Ripples in Time
by ShivaVixen
Summary: Time Travel AU. Second chances, Redemption, and a Gamble of faith. They've done the impossible before, this time it's all or nothing, and they plan on 'all'. Warning: Story will go into Psychological issues, violence, mild cursing and ocasional pseudo-science and innuendo.
1. Chapter 1

**So . . . this is a time travel fic. I know there are a few out there, but I wanted to do my own spin. Events from the compilation will be loosely referenced.**

**I will freely admit that a lot of this was inspired by The Fifth Act by Sinnatious (did I spell that right?); A life long forgotten by Lord Shinta; Once More With Feeling by Illusor Meaneld (I think I spelled that wrong too . . .); Butterfly Effect by Kariya and Bard Linn; and the Delivery Boy series by Diaphanous, plus several more (most of them are in my favorites). I blame them and their writing for inspiring this mess, and since they did inspire me, you may see a few token things that resemble their own stories. This is not deliberate, I swear.**

**On a side note, there won't be any pairings that aren't so much as hinted at in cannon. Actually, there won't be many pairings at all. I like exploring characters, and if a relationship will help explore a character (Like Vincent), **_**then**_**, and **_**only**_** then, I will use it. I'm not against any type of pairing (as long as it's well written) but I've found that I write friendships better than romances.**

**Now some of the characters may seem a little out of character- well, that's to be expected. People grow and develop, so do characters. (Time Travel is my excuse for some of this.) However, if you feel that I'm going too far out of character, let me know. This is my first story for this fandom, and, well, I got introduced to it by the first Advent Children movie. (One of my friends in high school loved the compilation, and informed me of all the characters, their personalities, and abilities, despite my look of 'I could care less about how epic FFVII is'. Apparently, it resembled a look of interest. This story is dedicated to him.)**

**I'm going to keep the timeline pretty loose. I'm not a hundred percent sure of the ages for all the characters.**

**Hmm, I think that's it- oh! Yeah, Disclaimer. (Didn't I technically already do that?)**

* * *

**Nibelheim, Nibel Mountains**

The first thing Vincent Valentine thought when he opened his eyes was _shit_. The second was that he had spent far too much time with one foul mouth Airship captain.

He was back in the coffin. Of course, he should have expected this, considering how long he had spent in it, and they were going back to before they had met. He closed his eyes. He could hear his demons confusion at the change in their host. Chaos in particular was looking through his memories, trying to figure out what had happened.

Another problem to add to the list, he had Chaos back in his head. Ignoring them, he pushed against the coffin lid, and sat up in pitch black darkness.

The last time, he had been completely broken by Hojo, and had been too terrified of the idea of freedom (what if he lost control?) to immediately agree with Cloud. It wasn't that he hadn't tried to escape before; Chaos and the rest of the demons had not let him rest until he had attempted to break out of their prison, several times. There was no lock on his side of the doors, and the hinges were hidden.

Not to mention, despite looking like a normal set of wooden doors, the damn things were actually reinforced and had more than a couple materia and spells on them.

So, his slamming against the door and clawing it with his golden gauntlet actually did nothing productive other than letting him beat out his frustration. How was he going to change anything like this?

* * *

Two children suddenly skidded to a stop before they reached an old rickety bridge, sitting down hard as memories were suddenly added. Blinking away tears, the girl looked at the blond who had been chasing her. He gave her a shaky smile, before going serious.

"Vincent." They shot off, away from the bridge.

* * *

Vincent sighed and leaned against his coffin, having exhausted himself trying to get out again. He was too big to fit through the tiny vent that gave him air. Instead, he focused on his friends. Barret would be in Corel, Cid would be in Shinra, Yuffie- well, she'd be in Wutai, Cait Sith and Reeve would be in Shinra, Nanaki in Cosmo Canyon . . . Tifa and Cloud would be here, but would they be in any position to help him? He didn't even know how old they were, he could have decades to wait, and as much as he hated it, he was going to have to wait for rescue. A rescue that- His head shot up and he glanced at the door. He could have sworn he heard-

"Vincent!"- Children's voices. And they could only be-

"Tifa! Cloud!" Absently he pressed both hands against the door- as if that would make it give way. "Is that you?"

"We're here! We're kids, but we're here!" That sounded like Tifa. He let out a sigh of relief and rested his head against the door. Good, he wasn't going to have to sleep in that coffin until they came to get him. He listened to the muttered arguing and the attempts to pick the lock. "We're going to have to get the key, Cloud can't pick the lock."

"I'm not going anywhere." That earned a giggle, and he didn't stop the small smile. The noises on the other side faded away, and then he was alone again . . . He started pacing, trying to focus on possible plans for what to do. Once Cloud and Tifa got the key from the safe-

'_We got the safe open, but it was booby-trapped with a monster_', Cloud's voice rang in his head, suddenly.

-"No . . ." Cloud and Tifa were _children_ now. No weapons or Materia. He whirled and once again slammed into the door with his fists. He did not want them dying for him, not so soon after getting this second chance. "Tifa! Cloud!" A clamber of feet on wood, and the key was turning in the lock; He was pushing through before the door had even opened, kneeling to check the bruise on Tifa's cheek. "Tifa, are you-?"

"Cloud's in trouble!" Wordlessly he scooped her up and ran for the stairs.

They found Cloud, and the monster, still in the room with the safe. Cloud was using a sword (must've been left behind by a soldier), but there was still the smell of blood . . .

Vincent didn't waste any time, firing Cerberus into the monster- it whirled and lunged at him, before falling dead to the floor.

"Cloud!"

"I'm okay!" Came the rather weak reply. Vincent resisted the urge to snort, moving to look at the now bloody blond. The monster had gotten him pretty good with his claws. "Tifa, remember . . . what happened? Today?" Vincent was silent as he checked over Cloud's injuries- gashes, which weren't too deep, his ribs might've been bruised, and he hadn't hit his head . . . He accepted the potion that Tifa gave him, she must've raided the supplies.

"Yeah, you tried to stop me from crossing the bridge and we both got hurt." Tifa grabbed Vincent's claw arm, placing strips of black electrical tape over the gold to disguise it.

"Let's just say we didn't get to the bridge, and got attacked, and Vincent rescued us." Cloud suggested. "Monster Hunters occasionally come to Nibelheim, you could just claim to be a wandering Monster Hunter who rescued two idiot kids. They're known to be eccentric."

"Truth enough." Vincent scooped him up. "I'll make it look like we came from a different direction. Are you done?" Tifa nodded, and he picked her up.

* * *

Cloud's mother, (known to the villagers both mockingly and respectfully as 'Mrs. Strife', despite not having a husband) was a very patient and tolerant woman. Mayor Lockheart, on the other hand, was the only known man that made her wish killing idiots wasn't illegal. Right now, he was up in arms over his missing daughter, not even listening to her trying to say that her son was missing as well.

"Daddy!" Tifa came running into the Square, dirty and bruised. "Daddy, Cloud's hurt! And it's my fault!" She was crying.

"What do you mean?" The town Doctor- he and the recently arrived Zangan were the only ones who could silence Lockheart with a look, quickly took charge, as he looked her over.

"I was trying to find mommy, and there was a big monster, and Cloud tried to protect me, and he got hurt, and-"

"And if I hadn't heard the commotion, they both would have died." Mrs. Strife turned and paled a little at the sight of her son so bloodied up. The man carrying him had black boots and a black prosthetic arm, and was wearing a slightly tattered red cape. The red bandana did a poor job of holding back his long hair, which partly fell into his face. She ignored the murmurs from behind her, as the hair moved, and revealed red eyes. "The girl is fine, but the boy needs healing, now." The Doctor nodded.

"My clinic is over here." The mystery man nodded, and continued to carry her son into the small country clinic, gently laying the boy down.

"The claws got him a couple times, but not too deeply- my concern is his ribs." Cloud's mother ignored Lockheart and his daughter, as well as the idiot town sheriff, entering. Mrs. Strife tried not to whimper at the sight of her baby all cut up.

"I'll stitch up the wounds, you gave him a potion?" The stranger nodded. "Good, you'll want to wait in the waiting area; I'll call you in if I need any help." They both exited the room, and Mrs. Strife took a deep breath.

"Thank you for saving my son."

"It was no trouble, I'm just lucky I heard them."

"What's your name and what are you doing here?" The Sheriff demanded.

"My name is Vincent Hart, and I am a hunter." Vincent showed them the gun at his leg. "I heard Nibel has several monsters, so I thought I'd try my hand."

"I see." Mrs. Strife barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at his barely hidden suspicion. "And your eyes?"

"Mako poisoning side effect." Was the short response. "As was the loss of my arm."

The Sheriff shifted, uneasy. "Well, you're welcome to stock up here. The inn is always open."

Vincent nodded, and remained standing by the door. Tifa bit her lip, before slipping from her father's side and coming to stand in front of the stranger.

"Thank you for saving us, Mr. Hart."

"Be more careful next time, little one. You're lucky the boy- Cloud? - was able to get between you and the monster."

"It's not Tifa's fault!" Mayor Lockheart snapped. Vincent looked up, face blank.

"I didn't say it was, I was merely pointing out that going into the forest was dangerous."

"Cloud tried to stop me, and I didn't listen." Tifa looked at the ground.

"Which was foolish, but you were . . . upset." The stranger gently ruffled her hair. Mrs. Strife was starting to approve of this stranger, he could handle children, and he could hold his own against idiots. "Some adults don't listen to reason when they're upset, either." Was it her imagination, or did he just shoot a glance at the Mayor? "However, that's no reason not to apologize to Cloud." Tifa nodded.

"Tifa, we're going home. You can talk to, Cloud, later. Send the Doctor to me once he's done, I want Tifa looked at." The Mayor left, the sheriff following in slight confusion.

"Welcome to Nibelheim, where the people still wish to stake outsiders through the heart at the first opportunity." She saw the flicker of amusement. "Are you going to stay at the inn?"

"I wasn't planning on it, I was thinking of camping out."

"That's no good. You're more than welcome to stay with me and my son; we've got an extra bed."

" . . . I wouldn't want to put you out . . ." She watched as the man shifted, ducking his head slightly as if to hide his face behind the high collar. It was a rather endearing look, especially to someone like her who was good at reading people. She made him uneasy, apparently.

"It's fine, I already have a poor reputation for not actually marrying Cloud's father. A few more things won't hurt. Besides, we live on the outskirts of town; you won't have to worry about talking to anyone else." She glanced at the door. "Cloud could use another authority figure in his life- he's picked up on the rest of the village's dislike for us, and doesn't respect any of the other adults."

"I'm not sure how long I will stay . . . I tend to wander."

"Then my door will always be open to you if you need a place to stay."

Vincent silently weighed his options. They hadn't really had a plan in place before they came back, just a few things that they regretted and wanted to change before, well, things started to get worse.

As a wandering monster hunter, he could take messages back and forth between them. (Cloud would be more than a little amused at this.) But he'd also be able to help Cloud train his now weaker body. Tifa would get training from Zangan, she'd told them on their way to town- watching someone get hurt because of you was the most basic reason for wanting to get stronger. But Cloud, as the village outcast . . .

With training, he'd be able to get into Soldier this time, and sooner. And that, everyone had agreed, was necessary. (Cloud was completely unaware that the main reason the rest had thought him getting into soldier was necessary was because they (Tifa especially) wanted to give him a chance to fulfill his old dream.)

"If I was to train your son, would you have any objection?" She blinked at him. Cloud's mother was a pretty woman, though rather hardened. He had no doubt that she could become quite a mother bear if her son was threatened, much like how her son became a fierce wolf when those he loved were under fire. "He's . . . he's got potential, he was able to hold out longer than I would've expected."

"No, I wouldn't." She said, after a moment of thinking. "But I want you to tell me what you're doing first." Vincent nodded.

* * *

In her old room, Tifa curled up with her old stuffed animal. Suddenly, all of this seemed like a surreal dream, one that, as a teen that had just lost everything, she had polished until it shone, forgetting every single blemish of her town, its people, and her father especially. Had they really been that closed minded and wary of all strangers?

She hadn't realized it, the last time, but she had been a really spoiled brat growing up. Her father had blamed Cloud for this incident, had blamed other children for her decisions, and everyone had always wanted to play with her. She had been so flattered by all the attention . . .

Losing her town had been a wakeup call, one that she had to avoid this time. She had to get stronger, stop listening to her father (who loved her but had never really told her no), and start getting ready to take care of herself and others.

She wouldn't be able to leave Nibelheim until she was of age- unless she wanted to join the Turks, which, she definitely did not want. Once she reached that age, though, she was out of here, going to Midgar (not Edge, she needed to remind Cloud and Vincent) and getting a job.

First things first, she needed to talk to Zangan about training. There was no way she was going to run away the next time there was a fight. She needed gloves, too, and at some point she needed to get Materia . . .

* * *

Cloud woke up slightly confused. His body hurt, and where was he- it took him a moment to remember.

Back in time, and damn it, he didn't remember his childhood home all that well. He barely remembered his mom and Tifa- though if he remembered right, he had never been really accepted here, so no big loss if he just hid himself away and didn't talk to any of the other kids, right?

Right. He also needed to start training to get into SOLDIER . . . he needed to get strong enough this time.

Cloud was brought out of his thoughts as Vincent entered, cloak-less, looking faintly amused, and completely out of place.

"Vincent?"

"Once you've recovered, I've got your mother's permission to start training you."

"You're staying?" He had been sure the gunman would have taken off the moment he had the chance, or breathing room.

"I might as well; you're going need help regaining your strength." The man sat down on the edge of his bed. "I won't go easy on you, Cloud, but you're nowhere near what you used to be."

"I noticed that already." He absently touched his chest where the stitches were. He'd misjudged his reach and strength, and the monster had taken advantage when he had overbalanced. Vincent opened his mouth to say something, then suddenly chuckled and gently ruffled his hair, just before his mother entered the room.

"We'll work on it once you've healed." Red eyes glinted in amusement. Covering up the concern, and the promise of scolding.

"Aww man." Cloud tried to hide his amusement- thank the gods they'd been friends for so long, they could still read each other, even with one of them decreased in age. (It was much later, when Cloud pointed out to Vincent that Yuffie would be even younger than him, the gunman was even more amused and Cloud was left wondering if the ex-Turk had something planned.)

**Wutai, Royal Palace**

Princess Yuffie Kisaragi, the greatest ninja ever, was _not_ amused. She was 4 years old, and stuck in Wutai . . . why had she thought this would be a good idea? Seriously, why had she agreed?

The 'war' was just starting; this was the last set of peace talks before the brief skirmishes turned into really bloody battles (Cloud's father must've already been lost in a skirmish, damn, though he had never expressed interest in trying to save the man he never knew). They had an envoy from Shinra staying with them, including several Soldiers . . . Yuffie couldn't remember how these meetings had panned out the last time- she had been too young and they had been so boring.

She grinned at the idea that suddenly popped into her head. If they were boring to a four year old, they had probably been boring to some of the Soldiers. And she would be a poor hostess if she didn't keep her guests entertained. With that in mind, she slipped her nurse and began to explore. This would be a good test of skill too.

She found three soldiers lounging under the sakura tree outside in one of the many gardens. And promptly froze in her position. _Sephiroth_, with shoulder length silver hair, was sitting there, looking bored as one of the other boys read a book aloud, while the other tended to what looked like Cloud's buster sword.

Yuffie fidgeted for a moment. Sephiroth, before Jenova, had been a decent person. While Tifa hadn't liked it, they had all agreed to go after Jenova (and Hojo) first, to maybe keep him from losing his mind, and give him a chance to redeem himself.

And hadn't part of the fact been that he hadn't felt like he was human?

Well, Yuffie knew how to beat that thought out of people (even if Vincent did sigh a lot because of it, Nanaki and Cloud always looked confused, and Cid cursed her to the Leviathan's lair and back). With ease (okay, she might have been a little clumsy) she got into the branches of the sakura tree. None of the teenagers moved, the red-head's voice had muffled her clumsiness.

She giggled as she shook one of the branches, getting the big teen and Sephiroth with the blossoms.

"Don't look now, but I think we've been snuck up on." The big teen chuckled looking up. The one reading looked up as well, though he looked a little annoyed. Oh, he must've wanted flowers too. Yuffie happily shook the branch above him. Sephiroth snickered, and Yuffie beamed down at the teen.

"Hi!" (Thank good she had already been learning two languages at this age, this would've been difficult otherwise.)

"Hello, what are you doing?"

"I'm a Sakura Ninja! I'm giving you flowers!"

"And here I thought Ninja's only gave kunai." The red-head muttered.

"I'm not allowed to play with those yet; I have to wait till I'm 7." Yuffie moved closer to them. "You're here for the boring meetings, right?"

" . . . Yes, they're important so war doesn't happen."

"War?" Yuffie tilted her head. Playing the innocent child card for all its worth. "That's bad right?"

"You could say that." The red-head muttered. Yuffie blinked.

"Say what?"

"Ignore him, he's just grumpy this morning." The large teen smiled. "Why are you out by yourself? Shouldn't you be playing with your friends?"

"I was bored." Yuffie came down to the lowest branch, then realized her mistake a second later- "Wh-whoa!"- when she fell out of the tree and landed on Sephiroth's stomach. "And you're more interesting." The red-head cracked up, while Sephiroth regained his breath.

Angeal Hewley was trying desperately not to laugh, rather than get off Sephiroth, the little girl instead made herself at home on his lap. Sephiroth had recovered, and was now looking at him in confusion and bewilderment. Angeal couldn't blame him, it wasn't often children came up to them, completely unafraid or not in awe. (Not to mention, Sephiroth had never had to deal with how fragile children could be, and was so unsure how to handle the child without hurting her.)

"What are your names?" The little girl began to play with Sephiroth's hair.

"I'm Angeal, that's Genesis, and you're sitting on Sephiroth."

"Angel?"

"Angeal." He corrected, and watched as the child scowled at him.

"That's what I said. Angel." Genesis was snickering again. Angeal gave up. "Gen-e, Gen . . ."

"Genesis."

"Gen-sis." The girl nodded, and then looked at Sephiroth, who still had no clue how to get the girl off of him, seeing as she paid no attention to his softly spoken requests to get off. "Se, Se-phir . . . you've got a long name, can I call you Sephy?" Genesis was laughing again. "I'm Yuffie!"

"Yuffie?" Angeal blinked, and Sephiroth met his eyes as the little girl beamed. The name was the same as the Princess, but surely this girl wasn't . . . The Princess was in a different area of the Palace all together.

"Yep! Hey, will you play with me?"

* * *

King Godo of Wutai was starting to worry. His daughter had gone missing and he didn't put kidnapping past Shinra. However, he couldn't accuse them without proof, not just yet.

As he sat across from the Vice President, a man who really resembled a rat, to have lunch together (along with members of their households and entourage, respectively), he tried not to show anything. Lunch was an awkward affair, because there were three soldiers- the ones that were fairly high ranked, despite their youth- missing.

The mystery soon cleared up, however, as the group headed together to the meeting hall. They all stopped to watch as three soldiers played with the Princess. Slightly stiffly in the case of the strange one with the silver hair, but still much more relaxed than Godo had ever seen.

"Attention!" All three soldiers whirled to attention while his daughter quickly hid behind the one with silver hair, eyes wide. This gave him a good look at the three- the silver haired one had part of his hair braided, with sakura blossoms mixed in, the red-head had a couple smaller braids, also with sakura blossoms mixed in, and the large dark-haired teen had some dirt smudged on his face. "What do you think you are doing?"

"We were given today for ourselves, sir." Yuffie hugged Sephiroth's leg, hoping they wouldn't get into too much trouble. Her father looked torn between amusement and relief.

"So you decided to play with a child?" The man's scorn was thick.

"That child is my daughter." Godo's tone was warning. He saw all three soldiers' eyes widen and shoot a quick glance at the now sheepish princess. "She usually plays in the gardens. I am most grateful that they were able to watch her while her usual nurse was indisposed today." No one missed the sudden tension in the air.

_Okay, this is not good.'_ "It was fun!" Yuffie beamed up at the stern adults. "Can I keep them?" That earned more than a few chuckles, though the rat-like man was still glowering. A Turk quickly came up to him and muttered in his ear.

"Oh, Very well, carry on." The man sneered and waved his hand, returning to the group.

"_Princess, we will speak of this later_." Her father warned her wutainese. She gave a quick bow. When the group was gone, the trio looked down at her.

"I'm not supposed to play with the servant children, and the other noble children aren't much fun, they always let me win." Yuffie explained, still a little sheepish. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just wanted to have fun."

"It's okay," Angeal smiled, "shall we finish our game?" Yuffie beamed and nodded.

Later, as she headed back to her rooms (exploring along the way), she smelled cigarette smoke. Curious, she looked into one of the smaller rock gardens- blonde hair, blue coat and white scarf. "Cid!"

Cid Highwind, one of three pilots on this little summit of peace talks, blinked, before looking up at a very small, but very familiar girl. "Yuffie?" She beamed and nodded, slipping down to join him. "Well, this makes it a little difficult for you, doesn't it?"

"Just a little- anything from the others?"

"Reeve's going to get in contact with Barret and maybe Nanaki. I'm going to try and stick with Shinra this go round, I know what went wrong last time, so I can make sure it doesn't happen again." He gave her a small grin. "You going to stop the war?"

"I've made friends with Sephiroth." He inhaled wrong, but refrained from cursing. "It's not much, but I don't like rat-face."

"Yeah, he was the Vice Pres before Rufus, got assassinated by a ninja, last time." Cid sighed. "No word from Nibelheim, yet. Vinny's probably stuck in that coffin, though." They discussed the possible whereabouts of their other friends, before Yuffie beamed up at him.

"So, wanna help me stop a war?" Cid just grinned in response. He was going to enjoy this second chance.

"What can an Airship captain do to help ya, Princess?"

"Well, I was thinking . . ."

**ShinRa Building, Midgar**

Reeve Tuesti finished making all the calls, and began making plans to place caches of supplies in areas the others could get to. He'd already gotten the Cait Sith Corporation running before they had made the jump back, and he was well aware that no one was even going to look twice at him, or his office workers.

In fact, no one was really going to care what Urban Development's young head did, as long as he didn't step on any toes. He'd keep out of everyone's way, while making plans for alternate energy sources- disguised as 'possible backups if a reactor fails' or something. Barret and Nanaki were willing to help with that- he'd already sent documents to Barret so he could be a part of the Cait Sith Corporation, which gave him an excuse to talk to the other man a heck of a lot more. He'd make a trip to Cosmo Canyon later- claim it as a research trip, or a vacation- and get Nanaki under his employ, while also getting a chance to talk to Elder Bugenhagen . . . where did he put his calendar?

He glanced up as a blond boy entered his office looking slightly annoyed. "Can I help you, Mr. Shinra?"

"Did the others make it back too?" Reeve kept the surprise off his face as he nodded. Rufus just gave him a half smile, and answered the unspoken question. "It's only me and Rude, I'm afraid . . ." Rufus trailed off, then shook his head. "Plan?"

"Training, mostly, get a few traps set with bait, and rescue a few allies. We can't make a move just yet." Rufus nodded.

"I know this company caused problems . . . but I don't want to see it destroyed again." The boy muttered.

"We don't have to destroy anything, we can just renovate." Reeve pointed out.

"I guess . . . Jenova and Hojo are on the list, but we'll also have to deal with Hollander, before he starts Deepground . . ."

"It'll take a while to get the pieces in place, for both sides." It was like an elaborate game. But instead of one chess master, there were several on each side. Everyone had their own goals to reach in order to be able to complete their larger goal. "But I think . . . once Cloud gets here, to join SOLDIER . . ."

"Things will start moving, we just have to prepare." Rufus nodded, and stood. "I talked to my father, about working with the Turks as my starting point." Reeve blinked. The last time, Rufus hadn't even bothered to work up through the ranks. "It'll be like an internship, in a way, but it'll give me a chance to get in contact with others, and police the system a little."

"I'm working on a way to keep in contact with everyone, without fear of being traced, I'll let you know when it's ready to test. Good luck." Reeve pulled out a diagram of Cait Sith- the current model had more than one mistake in it, (it's legs were quick to wear out, hence it's need to ride a moogle) and he wanted to get it updated as soon as possible.

* * *

Rufus took a deep breath as he started walking through the halls, Rude- currently a junior Turk- just behind him. There were a lot of things he had gotten a chance to regret, after the company had been destroyed, and one of them included his father's lack of judgment. Lazard was older than him, and currently in an office, but in a few years, his brother would end up in Hollander's clutches, escape, and then be killed. His memory of the details as vague at best, (at the time, he hadn't cared, busy with his own plans) but he knew what the result would be if he didn't try to keep his brother.

Lazard had kept the SOLDIER program balanced, and he would have worked well with Reeve. He wasn't going to try and save his father from whatever fate that awaited him, but he would save his brother. He just hoped Lazard would accept him.

As for the rest of his father's old council- Heidegger, well, the man was an old warhorse, or would be. He craved power and recognition. Palmer was a coward (maybe he could get Highwind to be the head of Air and Space?) and Scarlet . . . well, she had a chip on her shoulder, but she was smart, talented and deadly. He'd keep her, if possible.

Rude didn't speak as he followed the former (future?) President of Shinra. He was still getting over the loss of the three people that he had become so close too- it was going to be odd, knowing that Reno he spoke to wasn't the one that had helped him blow up a freeway, or that Elena wasn't the one who helped him prank Reno, or that Tseng wasn't the man who had laughed when the two younger Turks had woken up in the same bed (Tseng had an underhanded sense of humor) . . . but he'd have a chance to keep them this time.

He wondered how Cloud was going to take it, he'd have a chance to save Aerith and Fair this time . . .

Aerith. They needed to do something about that. He'd bring it up to Rufus after they had gotten him into TURK training. (He had practically been a Turk, the last time, might as well make it official.)

* * *

"You do realize that this is not a game, Mr. Shinra. You can't quit once you've gotten bored." Veld frowned at the boy in front of him.

"I'm aware, that's why I picked it." Rufus had forgotten how intimidating Veld had been. "As everyone tends to point out, I'm living a very sheltered lifestyle, but there's no way for me to get out of it for real life experience, making me even more sheltered. You don't have to accept me for field missions, sir, but I would like the chance to get some experience of how the world works."

Veld raised an eyebrow. A week ago, in fact, until yesterday, the boy had still been an utterly spoiled brat.

"What changed?"

" . . . I'd like the chance to prove myself. I'd be horrible as a soldier, Air and Space bores me, so does Urban Development, Science . . . no, I'll pass, and while I might like weapons, I'd prefer to learn how to use them more than design them. And I really don't want to spend too much time with my father- he tends to ignore me, and I get even more bored."

" . . . Very well, Rude get him a suit, you'll both report to Tseng tomorrow morning for training."

**Corel**

After Barret hung up the phone with Reeve, he began to walk around his old home town, absently rubbing together his two normal hands. He was going to do his best to get as many alternatives to Mako as he could. But his major concern was simple- what did he do about Marlene's parents? He wanted his adopted daughter to live and exist, but also, quite selfishly, he wanted her to still call him daddy.

Well, he'd live his life as best he could, keep an eye out if Avalanche started to form again, and he'd worry about this mess one day at a time. He'd leave the scheming up to Cloud, Yuffie, Vinny and Reeve.

**Cosmo Canyon**

Nanaki stretched out in the sun, enjoying having two eyes. He was going to have to re-learn spell casting, and hopefully stay out of Hojo's clutches this time around- he frowned, sitting up. As much as he hated it, that was how he had connected to the others. He certainly hoped that the others would come for him if they needed him . . .

He snorted. They would. Cloud was . . . rare, for a human. It wasn't the experimentation, or that he had Cetra blood (which he didn't), but the fact he was almost perfectly human. And he was aware of it.

The others were just as special and aware of the planet as he was, but sometimes, they weren't as aware of themselves as Cloud was. Cloud would never forget anyone he cared about, even if his mind lost the memories, his heart wouldn't.

He would come to pick him up when it was time, Nanaki just had to be ready by then.

* * *

**And there you go- a group of people have come back in time, but they all have different 'agendas', that pretty much work towards the same goal.**

**To recap:**

**Cloud's goal is to get into Soldier; Tifa's is to get stronger; Vincent, well, I didn't give his goal yet; Yuffie is trying to make sure the war doesn't last so long, if not outright stop it; Cid is going to make sure Rocket 26 actually launches, without getting anyone killed; Reeve is going to be working on Cait Sith and Alternatives to mako (With Barret and Nanaki's help); Rufus is going to try and save Lazard, as well as keep Shinra from going under; Rude's goal is to protect the Turks that didn't make it; Barret's going keep an eye out on possible Avalanche movements; and Nanaki is going to train to use spells.**

**Why did they come back? Well, there were some hints, but it will be revealed as the story progresses. **

**And a note on Lazard: If you look at his character biography, he genuinely cares for children, especially those from the slums. Some people interpret what happened to him as him working with Hollander, but I honestly think that he tried to stop Hollander (and/or Hojo), and (like Vincent) got experimented on for his trouble. (on that note, how do you spell his last name?) **

**Edit 6/10: position on Lazard has been slightly revised, now that I actually have a better source for character biographies, but overall, it's still the same.**

**Next Chapter will follow events in Nibleheim and Wutai. Unfortunately, Nanaki and Barret's characters aren't going to have much focus the first few chapters. When things start to pick up, that's when they'll have more time in the limelight.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own rights to Final Fantasy VII.**

**Quick Note: **

"_This is a foreign language, translated into English._"

'**Inner demons/Jenova speaking in someone's mind**'

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

**Nibelheim, Nibel Mountains**

Cloud absently stared at his reflection in the mirror, in particular his scrawny, 8 (almost 9) year old chest with the rather crude stitches. He was going to have scars, even after the stitches were removed.

Worse, to him at least, was how much he hadn't remembered his own hometown, or his mother. Thankfully, they were able to pass it off as trauma, but still, Cloud had no real memories of his childhood to go off of. At least, none that were substantive enough.

He knew he had been a loner, that Zack had been his only real friend, Tifa didn't count because she was the center of the entire town, and as much as he knew what he had been like around her . . . yeah, she hadn't been able to fill in the gaps as well as they both wanted.

It was a good thing he was a loner, otherwise there would have been too many people questioning any changes in his temperament to lie to.

"Staring again, Cloud?" He almost jumped as Vincent appeared in his doorway. "They're coming out tomorrow."

"Just thinking . . ." Cloud put his shirt on, before meeting Vincent's gaze.

"Your mother is out. What were you thinking about?"

" . . . Scars." They had seen each other shirtless before, had seen old battle scars that hadn't been cured, the surgical scars from time spent in a lab, and scars that would have been mortal wounds for anyone that wasn't as enhanced as they were. "Things have changed."

"That was the point of coming back." Vincent replied neutrally. "Or does it bother you that you don't really remember?" Cloud flinched slightly. "Why?"

"I don't remember my mother, just how she died, Vincent. I know I'm supposed to love her, but I don't remember how." Vincent shifted, uneasy. "You have a theory."

There was something very wrong, Vincent decided at that point, in seeing the eyes of a war-battered soldier in the eyes of an 8 year old. His childhood home should have been a place where he could relax, like Tifa was (she was already filling her role as town darling, and she looked freer than she had in years), instead, Cloud was constantly wary. Tifa had admitted that Cloud had not been accepted, and that her own friendship with him had been rather threadbare when they were children, but still . . . he should have been able to relax in his own house.

The confession of how blank his memory was explained a lot- Cloud didn't have any concrete memories of being anything but a warrior and fighting for his life. It was why it took him so long to settle down after meteor fall, and why he tended to go silent when faced with large groups. (Vincent wasn't much different, though in his case it came from years of isolation rusting his social skills.)

"Jenova. She wouldn't have wanted you to have memories of your mother- it would make it easier for her to gain your trust." Vincent explained. "And Hojo wouldn't have wanted you to have your own personality, either."

" . . . Which is why Hojo made a big deal about claiming Jenova as Sephiroth's mother." Cloud blinked. Vincent stiffened, mind already jumping to the track Cloud had suddenly switched too.

"We need to change that, I'll search the mansion tonight." Cloud nodded.

"I'd volunteer to come with you, but . . ." He made a half hearted gesture at himself.

"I'll be alright." He'd already cleaned up the evidence of the two children's rescue, the key was back in the safe and the piece of paper back in its spot. The mansion might not be occupied currently, but Hojo had proven that he would return to it.

* * *

Mrs. Strife expertly ignored the whispers (you'd think they would've gotten bored already- she hadn't reacted before, she wouldn't now) and began her trek to her house. The fact that the stranger with red eyes was now living with her and her son had started up the old gossip about her and her lack of husband.

Not to mention, they were now adding some rather insane rumors about Vincent Hart in. Some were more outlandish than they had right to be, and already there were concerns that he was actually a demon in human form that she (as she was apparently a witch, now) had gotten bound to her. Some were even claiming that he was the one that attacked the children.

Entering the house, she paused at the unusual sight of her son scowling at a chess board, trying to figure out how to get out of whatever trap Vincent had put his pieces in.

That was the other worrying thing. Her son, while not very social thanks to the children who had picked up on their parents dislike of her, had almost completely withdrawn, preferring to follow Vincent around like a baby chocobo. Normally, it took awhile for him to warm up to adults other than herself. She wasn't complaining, exactly, but . . . there was something off. Something that she wasn't seeing.

Temporarily banishing those thoughts, she started on dinner.

It wasn't till after dinner, when Vincent was helping her wash dishes while Cloud got ready for bed, that Mrs. Strife decided to actually talk.

"Rumor mill is working overtime in the village lately." Vincent glanced up at her from where he was drying the dish she'd handed him. "Thought I'd give you a heads up- some are claiming you're a monster, or a demon."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be, I knew what I was getting into when I had Cloud, this . . . is nothing new. I just wanted to warn you ahead of time, in case some idiot tries something."

"Is it hard? Raising a child on your own?" She paused, glancing at him, Vincent ducked his head, a move of embarrassment for him. (If he wore his cape, it would hide his face, but she had gotten him to hang it up while he was in the house. As it was, the hair fell into his eyes.)

"Some days. When I think of what could have been." Mrs. Strife looked back at the soapy water. "He was going to marry me when he got out of service- he only had a month left, before the mission to Wutai where he was killed. Cloud . . . Cloud never met him, and well, he's never asked to see any pictures." She gave a soft sigh. "I think I should be glad of that, really, I don't think I could look at them without feeling the heartache."

"You really loved him."

"I still do. It's funny, the moment everyone heard that he was dead, I had several suitors trying to court me. It was after I refused them that they started the rumors."

"Why didn't you?"

"There's a difference between marrying for status, and marrying so one gets taken care of." Mrs. Strife paused at his confusion. "Women don't like to admit it, but what they want most in a husband is someone to take care of them, not just as an equal and friend, but also as a defense against the world; especially in a small town like this, where winters can turn deadly. Marrying for ambition and status however, doesn't guarantee that the husband will take care of you- usually, that ambition goes both ways, and the moment the other no longer needs their lawful spouse, well, it can get ugly. Those men . . . they just wanted me to stabilize their status in the town. They wouldn't have cared for me or my son." She sighed. "Especially my son. This town is big on lineage."

"I noticed." The dishes were finished, but Cloud still hadn't come back down.

"How about you, do you have someone you love?"

"Sort of." Vincent mentally kicked himself when the woman's sky blue eyes focused on him. He was not looking forward to this, even if he had gotten some closure. But he had started this conversation, and Mrs. Strife was not one to let something go. (On a separate note, now he knew where Cloud got that X-ray look- his mother could have been a Turk.) "She . . . married someone else. For status. I didn't mean as much to her as I thought . . ."

"I doubt that. You're a very nice man, Mr. Hart."

"I wasn't always, besides, she had his child."

"Doesn't mean anything. Women can get pregnant from one night stands with strangers."

" . . . Is this your way of saying I should go and talk to her?" He had already gotten closure, hadn't he? Lucrecia didn't want him, didn't want to leave her crystal.

"I think you'd be a coward not to fight for a second chance. It might not have worked out the first time, but I can see it in your eyes, her current marriage hurt or is hurting her. She might not thank you for it, but you really ought to give her a wakeup call. Leaving her alone is a bad idea, especially if she has a child."

Vincent stayed silent. A wake up call. Lucrecia was still in that cave right now. In stasis because of the live Jenova cells that were slowly killing her.

If they were going to go after Hojo, they would need someone on his level. Someone that was on the original project. Hojo's lab notes contained ways of stabilizing the cells to keep a subject from degrading, it's how they used the cells in Soldier.

He needed to know how to neutralize the cells, first, there were two possible ways- either he took Aerith to help, or he asked Reeve to hack into the files and find the information he needed. But once he knew . . .

'_How's sleeping supposed to atone for anything?_' This Lucrecia was going to have to wake up, and face her demons. He'd help her, every step of the way, but he was not going to let her hide and dwell in sorrow for however long she'd last in that crystal. Cutting oneself off from the world didn't solve anything- he'd already tried that.

"I'm going to have to think about it." Was the reply he gave. He'd have to talk to Cloud, and get in contact with Reeve, but between them all, he was sure he could get her out. He had come back with the goal of gathering information that the others couldn't, but he could always add an extra goal.

Everyone deserved a second chance, and if they were going to save Sephiroth, they might as well save his real mother from her self-imposed prison and Jenova's taint.

Cloud was in his room, and had probably been waiting for him.

"You heard?" Cloud nodded.

"How are you going to get her out?"

"I don't know." Vincent sighed, leaning against the wall.

"She'll be suffering from either addiction or poisoning if you do get her out."

"Next to Hojo and Hollander, she's the best expert we have on Jenova and the Cetra." Vincent pointed out.

"She might not thank you."

"Nothing gets solved by sleeping." Cloud gave him a small smile. Vincent sighed. "We'll deal with it as it comes? From what I understand, mako injections could help."

"Mideel might be able to help, but Vincent . . . she might lose her memories. Or they could be just as scrambled as mine."

" . . . Think I could bring her here?"

"Here or Cosmo Canyon."

"Would your mother let her stay?" Cloud just shrugged. "You need to act more like a child, you know." The look Vincent received was one that would be a lot more effective once Cloud grew up. As it was, Vincent had to blank his expression to keep from smiling.

"When I figure out how, I will." Cloud looked at him. "When are you leaving?"

"After I check the mansion . . . and the reactor."

Vincent left later that night, absently looking and collecting loose notes, especially those from Lucrecia. He collected several items that he thought might be useful, but for the most part left everything alone.

The next stop was the reactor, where he ignored the mako pods in favor of searching for Jenova. The tank base was there, but Jenova wasn't. Which made sense, Hojo would have wanted constant access to the cells, especially to use in Soldier. Transporting the cells would be costly, otherwise. He'd have to alert the others that they needed to find Jenova. He wasn't sure they could destroy her, not without risking Geostigma, but there had to be a way to neutralize her in some way.

'**Going up against the calamity isn't something that will be so easy as killing it.**' Chaos added, amused.

'_Do you have any suggestions, then?' _

'**Not against the Calamity, but you do have a Maiden to rescue, and I might be able to help with that.**'

'_Would it harm her?'_

'N**ot grieviously. She'd still be able to help you on your quest. But I'll want something in return.**'

'_And that would be?_' Vincent had always been wary of Chaos, more so then the rest of the demons.

'**I want to fight Omega, without your interference.**'

'_That might not happen in this timeline._'

'**Some events cannot be compeletly changed, human. They merely take other forms.**'

Vincent didn't reply for a moment, before giving his agreement. He'd let Cloud know of this development as well.

**Wutai, Royal Palace**

Sephiroth shook his head as Captain Highwind and Genesis got into another insult war. He still wasn't too clear on how the little princess pulled the growling and slightly grumpy captain into their 'playtimes', but he was pretty sure some sort of blackmail had been involved. Or the pilot was just like Angeal, who couldn't resist cute things if his life depended on it.

"Someday, I'm going to have every type of materia on the planet!" The princess suddenly declared. She was sitting on Angeal's lap this time, and looking at Angeal's heal materia. Both the pilot and Genesis stopped arguing to look at her.

"Pretty high goal there, princess." Highwind pointed out. "And you'd have to master all of them."

"Then I will." She beamed. "What's your dream, Angel?" Genesis snickered, Angeal shot him a glare before looking down at the tiny (and fragile, compared to the rest of them) child on his lap.

"To live with honor, I guess."

"That's boring, you've got to do something."

"I'd advise humoring her, or she'll never let it go." Highwind suggested under his breath. The princess stuck out her tongue at him before looking back at Angeal.

"Does keeping Genesis and Sephiroth out of trouble count?" Angeal smiled as she tilted her head and thought about it.

"Not really, it has to be something you want to do."

"Then I need to think about it." The princess accepted that, then looked at Genesis.

"What's your dream?"

"I want to find out how Loveless ends." Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "It's an incomplete play, you see. I'd also like to be a hero." The flamboyant red-head leaned back and looked at the sky. "What about you, Highwind?"

"I want to go into space." That made the teens looked at him in surprise. He noticed it, and raised his eyebrows. "What, you think dreams are for the young? I've got an entire list of things I want to do still, Go into space, find a woman that can take my- stuff," He edited himself, before continuing, "and dish it back out, settle down with said woman, and hopefully die in the sky. If I have to die on the ground it better be because I was protecting someone, otherwise I'm going to throw a fit." The princess giggled, and Highwind gave her a look. "What?"

"Is there materia in space?" He rolled his eyes at the question, but answered.

"I'll let you know when I find out." He looked at Sephiroth. "Your turn, kid."

"I don't . . . I guess make it through the ranks?"

"Doesn't count! That's duty, like how I've got to take the throne, cause I'm the only child of my father." The Princess scolded. "Dreams are something you have to search for!"

"Search for . . ." Dreams were something Hojo discouraged as frivolous nonsense, things children did, but if Highwind, someone who was an adult, and someone he could respect to a degree, had so many dreams . . . "Then I want to meet my mother." The words were out before he could stop them. "Hojo says he knows where she is, but I don't even remember her holding me . . ."

"What's her name, do you know?" Highwind asked, the Princess abandoned Angeal's lap to sit in Sephiroth's.

"Hojo said it was Jenova."

"No surname?"

"None that he mentioned." Sephiroth blinked as the Princess gave him a hug, and realized that Angeal and Genesis had moved closer to him.

"I'll look into it, then." Sephiroth stared at Highwind in confusion.

"Sir?"

"Don't call me sir, I work for a living. I got some contacts, I can have them look through the records. It shouldn't be too hard, I just need to make a phone call."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do. I like to think I'm a decent human being, and you need some help, so I'm going to help you get some information. What you choose to do with the information is up to you." Highwind's blue eyes were sharp. "If you want to pay me back, you can do so by not mentioning who gave you the information if Hojo finds out. No offense, but that man puts me on edge, especially since he talks about everyone as if they're something he can play with."

"I . . . Thank you. I'd appreciate it, Highwind."

"I bet, I'm amazed you haven't hacked his files to find out for yourself."

"That's illegal."

"Only if you get caught, and only if you're looking at stuff that doesn't pertain to you. If it makes you feel better, I'll make sure my info comes from legal means." Highwind's morality was definitely lacking, and the man was pretty blunt, but he didn't lie or care that much about politics or power gain. Sephiroth decided to trust him. "Now, I believe it's time for us to try and eat the local cuisine, I hope it's cooked this time." The princess giggled, and Genesis laughed out-right. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh, I like my food dead and unmoving, thank you." The group began to head to the dinning room.

A commotion in one of the other gardens caught their attention, and the Princess gave a startled cry- a wutaianese word he didn't recognize, before shouting. "Stop him, War bad!" Highwind was already moving while Sephiroth and the other two soldiers froze in surprise.

The Rat-like Vice President had his hand raised to hit a young teen girl, (again) who was holding a child close.

"Stop!" Highwind cast the spell, freezing the man in place. "Hewley, Rhapsodos, grab him!" The two obeyed the order, Sephiroth looked down at the princess who had a tight grip on his hand.

"Princess, what-?"

"War bad! He almost caused war!" She lost a lot of her fluency, he noted detachedly, when she was scared.

"Colonel Sephiroth!" He looked at Highwind. "Get on the phone to the president, _now_, report the situation, but don't let the V.P. talk until I get there. I'm going to try and smooth things over."

"Why?" Highwind paused, and gave him a look.

"You got a brief on Court etiquette, right?"

"Yes."

"Remember what was listed under 'Punishable by death without trial'?"

"Attacking a noble of the royal family." The princess was talking to the girl and the child now, having let go of his hand. "You mean-?"

"Keep that idiot safe and silent, report to the president, it's an emergency- I'll report as soon as I can." Sephiroth gave a jerky nod, and quickly led the Vice President (held between Genesis and Angeal) back to their rooms.

Everything had gotten very complicated.

Cid watched them go, before turning back to the kids. Now he knew why the guy had gotten assassinated the last time. No one had stopped him from assaulting the two children, and of course they would have told an adult- the Vice President would have denied it, and a ninja would have been dispatched to take care of him.

Shinra had spun it as an unprovoked attack, this time, they wouldn't get that chance.

"What is going on?" The King, and several of his entourage entered the garden. Yuffie quickly moved forward and explained before things got out of hand.

Cid quickly knelt down, things were bad enough without him being culturally insensitive- this was not the Wutai they had visited after Meteor, or stayed at after the Deepground fiasco.

"What is your name?"

"Cid Highwind. I'm a pilot for ShinRa." Cid looked at Yuffie for some sort of cue.

"Our Daughter has explained the situation to me, and your nobility in staying behind for such a dishonorable man." Godo crossed his arms, hiding his hand in his sleeves. "Tell your superiors that We will talk to them tomorrow at midday, to discuss this slight, and proper reperation." Cid ducked his head.

"As you wish Your Majesty." Cid stayed down until the King, his entourage and the children had left. Yuffie looking back in concern. He straightened, and took a deep breath. "You can come out, brat." From around the far corner, Genesis emerged. "Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"Sephiroth wanted one of us to go back and check on you . . ." Genesis shifted. "What did he mean, staying behind?"

"Substitution, but apparently I don't rank high enough to take the Vice President's place for punishment."

"Sub- what?" Genesis looked at him with wide eyes. Cid sighed.

He'd flown a handful of missions during the Wutai War, and had only ever seen the 'Big Three' in passing. He knew all the rumors of course, and war and time always changed someone, but it was hard to imagine he was staring at the future Crimson Commander. He was too damn young, and ShinRa had a lot to answer for, including putting the bulk of the war on three teenager's shoulders.

"Attacking a Noble is punishable by death, however, the sentence can be lessened. By putting a different target, one that isn't as dishonorable as our 'esteemed' Vice President, I got them to consider lessening the sentence."

"That's not fair."

"Neither is war, which is what we'll probably get." Cid looked at him. "It'll be alright, Brat, tomorrow, we'll find out what Godo wants in reparation."

"I'm not worried, bastard." Genesis huffed. Which was an outright lie. He liked the pilot and the princess, they treated the three of them like people, not soldiers or experiments. They'd just met, but Highwind was willing to help out Sephiroth . . . and Genesis wasn't going to gamble with the chance that Highwind's contact would talk to them just because they said it was okay.

* * *

Godo frowned down at his daughter, who was trying not to fidget under his look. "_You think too highly of the outsiders you have spoken to. I may have been too easy in my hand._"

"_Father, They are people too, with good and bad, like you once warned me of those in our own kingdom that might wish me harm. _Colonel Sephiroth, _and his companions are good._" His daughter looked up, almost defiantly. "_They have dreams, _Sephiroth_ wants to meet his mother, _Genesis_ wants to find out how an unfinished story ends, _Angel_ wants to live his life with honor, and _Captain Highwind_ wants to fly to the stars. _Highwind_ stopped the Rat-man from doing any more harm, to keep his country from attacking in retaliation._" Godo frowned.

"_When did you become mature?_" His daughter flinched.

"_I do not . . . No one has ever asked . . ._" Godo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, realization flashing in his mind. Apparently, his daughter was a genius and had been hiding it because she thought they would be upset. No wonder she never sat still in her lessons, it must have been boring, and she probably thought she had to repeat everything her tutors did, step by step.

"_I am not angry, my little star. You should have told us that the lessons bored you because they were so easy._"

Yuffie blinked. Apparently, her father now thought she was a genius. Well, she'd always claimed to be one, and technically, she was a twenty something in a four year old body, so she could pull off genius legitimately. She'd go with this, now that he gave her an out for having knowledge and insight she shouldn't. "_I thought they were supposed to be that way?_" Her father laughed, and suddenly picked her up in a hug.

**ShinRa, Midgar**

Rufus hit the ground with a huff of lost air. Tseng looked down at him in amusement. "Better. But you need to stop favoring your right arm." Rufus nodded, and got up, ready to be thrown again. "We're taking a break." Tseng watched as Rufus nodded again, all but falling back to the ground. He, and most of the Turks, had watched out for the Shinra heir since he was a baby.

So he knew there were a few things off with the young heir. For one, most people, when they were learning how to fall, tended to land on their dominant arm. Rufus was right handed. He should be falling hard on that arm. Instead, he was putting his weight on his left, keeping his right free, as if he had a weapon. Which was impossible, because while Rufus was the heir, and had learned how to shoot thanks to the now-deceased Shotgun, Rufus didn't carry a weapon.

The other issue was that he was doing this unconsciously, and it took a lot of practice before such an unnatural thing became second nature. His musings on his student's performance were put on hold when his PHS went off.

Rufus watched as Tseng turned to accept the call. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Something must've gone wrong, and they hadn't even been back in time all that long.

* * *

**Rufus and Tseng slipped in there at the end. Now, answering a couple questions:**

'**Hart' is an alias, because while Vincent isn't that unusual of a name, 'Vincent Valentine' is definitely unique and would attract attention. Especially if it's in the same line as 'Nibelheim'.**

**I'm not going to tell you how everything will go, but here's the break down; There are three parts, 1****st**** part is settling in and making a few changes and gathering a couple allies, 2****nd**** Part will have skipped several years, and 3****rd**** part will be the finale. **

**Lucrecia- a lot of people make up a character to help the heroes figure out what Hojo has done. No one ever tries to rescue Lucrecia, a ready made plot device that could help. There are going to be consequences of getting her out, of course, but still, if you're going to start saving people, save the people that really need the chance of redemption.**

**Edit 6/10: Extended the Nibelheim scene, included Chaos and lack of Jenova in the reactor. **

**Next chapter will have more on Nibleheim, Lucrecia's rescue, and what happened in Wutai.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Still don't own the rights to Final Fantasy VII. **

**Warnings: Mild cursing, some psychological issues . . . nothing you haven't seen before. Also, creative filling of plot-holes and use of plot devices.**

**Quick Note:**

'**Inner Demon/Jenova**'

'_Notes_'

_Thoughts_

"_Foreign language translated to English_" or "_Foreign words_ in an English sentence"

"Voice heard through a phone or PA"

* * *

**Airship ShinRa, In the Air**

Angeal Hewley was leaning against the railing of the first airship created by the Shinra company, with an open forward deck, the helm enclosed, the mid decks holding the rooms and galley, and the aft holding most of the machinery. It was quite a beautiful, if simplistic vessel. Not that Angeal was looking at the ship taking them back to Midgar. He would have preferred to stay in Wutai. His mind was still not accepting the turn of events, and if he had to spend another minute listening to the stuffed shirts give worthless condolences and planning to use this situation to their advantage, he was going to definitely give his Buster sword some wear, tear and blood stains.

"Angeal." Sephiroth came up behind him, but he didn't respond, or look at his friend, even as the other hesitatingly put a hand on his shoulder. "You should try and get some sleep." Any other time, Angeal would have smiled at his friend's social awkwardness.

"How can I, we left Genesis behind." They were calling it a fair trade. Genesis stayed in some Wutai prison while the rest of them were allowed to leave Wutai and prepare for a stupid war. Angeal thought it would have been better if they had just let the Vice President get his due. "There had to have been another way . . ."

"Probably, but there wasn't much time to find it." Highwind locked the door to the outside, coming over to lean on a support strut. "My fault, I guess, I told him about the loophole." Angeal resisted the urge to yell at the pilot. It hadn't been his fault that Genesis had hit them both with a Confuse to keep them from doing anything. "He'll be alright, though, the Wutai people value honor and nobility, plus, the Princess likes him, and she won't let him get hurt."

"She's a child. She could get bored with him."

_Sephiroth, you are not helping._ Angeal lifted his head to look at the two, and saw an unrecognizable emotion briefly flash across the pilot's face.

"She won't. Two reasons, one he's always going to be different from the rest of the court, two, she does have an honor code, she'll watch over him because she respects you." Highwind leaned back.

"And what are we supposed to do now?" Highwind blinked at Angeal in surprise, before softening. Angeal had never felt so out-of-control over a situation, not even when he had to go to Hollander to get checked out. Highwind on the other hand, seemed to be keeping it together even though he didn't like the situation (the cursing from the pilot that had followed his recovery from the Confuse had made Angeal feel a little better, more so than the rest of the groups casual acceptance of Genesis's decision).

"Train. Get stronger. That way, not only can you get Genesis back, but you'll be strong enough to keep anyone else you care about safe- and keep yourselves from getting taken away as well. Get allies that will back you up when the shit hits the fan. Don't do anything stupid, and watch each other's backs, you'll be harder to take down if you work together." Highwind's voice was uncompromising. "This war isn't going to be pretty, but if you can build yourselves up enough, you won't get broken. Which reminds me." He held out a slip of paper towards Sephiroth. "My contact found no record of a 'Jenova' in any public record. He had a friend run through the files, and Hojo was married to a Doctor Lucrecia Crescent, and according to my source, she did have his child- you. Rumor has it she either died from the strain of giving birth, or is in a coma somewhere, but no one knows for sure." Sephiroth looked at the name on the paper, and the employee I.D. number, along with how to find the record of the marriage license and a couple other points of information. "For all we know though, 'Jenova' is a nickname Hojo gave his wife."

"Then why tell me that my mother's name was Jenova?" Sephiroth stared at the piece of paper. "If this Lucrecia Crescent is my mother, why lie to me?" Angeal came up behind him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and looking at the information on the piece of paper.

"That I don't know. I know Hojo's the one who's been raising you, but . . . well, to be honest, I'm suspicious of any guy that treats his own child like a lab experiment." Highwind was scowling. "My contact did some digging, a lot of people that worked with Hojo around the time of your birth have gone missing or died rather mysterious deaths. The most recent was the former head of science, Professor Gast and his wife." Sephiroth's grip on the piece of paper tightened.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, this is what you're going to have to face if you choose to seek out any more information. There's something dark in your past, kid, 'It' has claimed lives. If you think you're ready to face It and your responsibility in the war, then hunt down the leads. If not, you better train so that you're ready to face 'It', whatever 'It' is. Your choice." Sephiroth blinked, Highwind's expression was hard.

He glanced at Angeal whose expression was still open, offering his full support. He caught himself before he could turn and look for Genesis' opinion. And just like that, he made up his mind. When he met his mother, he wanted both of them there- they had mothers, they could coach him on how to act, what to say. Angeal and Genesis were important to him, the only friends he'd ever had. They had introduced him to their families (awkward though it had been for Genesis, who wasn't on the best of terms with his parents), he really wanted to be able to do the same.

They'd get Genesis back first, and together they'd go looking for his mother, whether she was Dr. Crescent or Jenova. Sephiroth took a deep breath, and then held out the piece of paper to Highwind.

"After we get Genesis back, will you give this back to me?" Highwind hadn't lied to him, had gotten the information he had promised even though there wasn't anything he would get in return, and had told him the truth even though it wasn't all that pretty, he knew he could add the pilot to the list of people (Angeal and Genesis being the only other two) he would trust. "We'll look for her then." He added, looking at Angeal who looked at him gratefully.

"I'll be there, kid. If either of you need anything else, feel free to come find me. I'll help you as best I can." Highwind hesitated, then nodded to himself, as if coming to a decision. "I'll double check with my source, see if I can't get him to talk to you as well. You're going to need an information network, you can't rely a hundred percent on the Turks and ShinRa reports."

"Information Network?"

"People you can go to for information that might not make it into an official report. Everyone has them, and even mailing lists can help. If you're going to be leading people, you need as much information as you can get."

"This network, would it be legal?"

"It's not illegal, but it's always better to have many sources of information, so you can double check its authenticity."

"Even if I trust the person giving it to me?"

"Even then, people can be misinformed, Sephiroth." Sephiroth shot another glance at Angeal, who simply shrugged.

"Genesis would think the idea exciting, you know how much enjoys anything that is remotely theatrical."

"And you?"

" . . . It makes sense, logically. We've covered misinformation campaigns in tactics." Sephiroth nodded, and looked at Highwind, who was now watching the scenery below go by.

"If your source isn't agreeable, will you still help us?"

"Yes. If he won't deal with you, I still will." Highwind held out a hand for a handshake, which Sephiroth and Angeal shook in turns. "You're going to want to get some rest, de-briefing is going to be rough. You don't have to sleep, just lie down for a bit."

Cid watched the two re-enter the airship, and sighed. So much for _waiting_ to make any major changes to the timeline. He could already hear the others freaking out. Though to be fair, none of them could have predicted this. He hadn't held out much hope for actually stopping the war from occurring- President Shinra thought Wutai held the key for the promise land, and had been looking for any excuse to just attack and take it. The negotiations had been real, to an extent, but Cid could remember Rufus once explaining that his father had believed that Godo had known how to get to the promised land, and had simply been hiding the information. With a less than moral council, war probably seemed like a simpler route- why ask for permission when you can just take? Cid snorted at the thought, absently lighting his cigarette. If they were lucky, though, it might not run as long as it had the first time. He steadfastly ignored the pessimistic thought that it might go one for longer.

In the meantime, Yuffie would do everything she could to take care of Genesis (she'd left a note, promising that she wouldn't abandon the red-head, no matter what her father said), so he'd do the same trying to take care of the other two. Absently, he debated about bringing Reeve in to help Angeal. He didn't connect with the muscular teen as well as he did Genesis or Sephiroth, surprisingly. Then again, this young Sephiroth reminded him of Cloud, in some ways; kids forced into an adults world with no preparation, socially insecure, preferring a small group of people he could trust, hell, the two even had similar expressions when faced with something they didn't understand. Cid bit down hard on the cigarette. While most of that could be explained away as coincidence, it still made him remember the bombshell that Cloud was a failed attempt at cloning Sephiroth. It took him a bit to push that thought away. Cloud was Cloud, end of the story.

He glanced at his watch. In another hour, they'd be passing by Nibelheim. With a soft sigh, he dialed Reeve. Might as well give him a heads up on the situation. He couldn't wait until Reeve came through with a way to contact the others, he could really use Vincent's or Cloud's opinion on this- those two were a lot better at tactics than he was. He didn't know what his next move should be, now that he was out of Wutai; should he focus on his own business?

There was one thing he did know- Hojo was dangerously territorial about who Sephiroth interacted with, especially when off duty and in the ShinRa building. The notes from the mad scientist (had that been a mistake, actually reading the notes, but it gave them all a greater insight on how Sephiroth got pushed into the deep end, though they all lost a few nights of sleep) from their time had been detailed in reasons why Hojo had removed those that threatened the 'purity' of his experiment. If he wasn't careful, Hojo would be gunning for him- and Vincent and Cloud (and who knows how many else) had proven how easy it was for the madman to make someone disappear without a trace. Vincent had been the best Turk at the time, and Cloud had been taken with a First Class soldier that had been well liked by the rest of SOLDIER.

Not to mention, he'd ticked off the Vice President by actually casting a spell on him. Oh, and Hollander was the guy in charge of Angeal and Genesis, so he'd probably be gunning for him too.

"I'm going to become paranoid, I can just tell. Damn it kid, what sort of hell did you get me into?"

"I'm going to assume that was rhetorical." Reeve commented, giving Cid a slight start. "Cid?"

"Reeve, if I go missing, there are three possible suspects you should watch."

" . . . Does this have to do with Raphsodos being listed as a POW?"

"Pretty much."

"I'm listening."

**Urban Development, ShinRa, Midgar**

"Is it too early to panic over a really drastic change?" Rufus demanded as soon as Rude had shut the door behind them. Reeve absently wished for the days that he could work without people coming to talk to him. "Rhapsodos never got captured the last time."

"We can't panic, we were going to end up changing some things, and anyway, it's too early to tell how this will go." Reeve held up both of his hands.

"Who was in Wutai? Other than the Princess, obviously."

"Highwind. Apparently Rhapsodos hit him and Hewley with a Confuse to keep them from doing anything. Highwind's also given Sephiroth a few clues to his real mother, but he says the boy is going to focus on getting his friend back. Vincent's made contact with my Cait Sith model in Mideel; he's going to try getting Dr. Crescent out of her prison. This will give her time to recover, hopefully, so she can meet her son." Rufus nodded, and turned his head. "It's not an ideal situation, but we can work with the changes. On that note, I got the PHS's online." Reeve passed them two. "Untraceable, I sent a couple to Vincent and Barret- but I'm going to need an excuse to get to Cosmo Canyon."

"Vacation or Research?"

"Research gives me access to company funds and a helicopter. Vacation, I'm off the record but transportation is difficult. And two Turks visiting me is going to make my secretary nervous."

"I have an excuse." Rufus held up a file. "Heidegger wants you to go over this. Rude's just here to make sure I don't get lost."

Reeve accepted the file and sighed. "Speaking of unexpected developments, how are you two doing?"

"Reno didn't join until around the same time as Strife's friend Fair. Elena was in training around the same time as Strife. It'll be a while before I see them." Rufus glanced at the ground as Rude spoke. "Tseng I've been in contact with, it's . . . difficult, re-earning his trust."

"I don't know how to approach Lazard." Rufus admitted. "We barely ever exchanged pleasantries the last time, how do I go up to him?"

"You are asking the wrong two people, Sir." Rude pointed out.

"I'm asking for any idea of whom I _should_ ask?" Rufus gave him a look.

"Tseng might be able to help. I got surveillance around Aerith, ah! That reminds me." Reeve pulled out a notebook with a bunch of nonsensical shorthand. "If you're in trouble, and there's a Cait Sith unit around, Rude, use pass code Zircon Beta, Rufus, Diamond Alpha."

"Diamond Alpha?"

"Zircon Beta?"

Two beeps answered the questions, and Reeve smiled. Rufus shook his head.

"I worry about you. Really, I do."

**Nibelheim, Nibel Mountains**

Cloud threw himself into the training regime Vincent had figured out for him before he had left to (hopefully) rescue Lucrecia. He'd have to practice the few sword katas he knew on his own, Vincent wasn't a swordsman by any stretch of the imagination.

He was practicing by the water tower, hidden away from anyone else's sight. At least, out of any adult's sight. He heard the sounds of other children playing nearby, (there were a bunch of empty crates that were used as a makeshift playground) but didn't really give them any thought.

Up until a ball hit him. He blinked at it for a moment, before looking to see a dark-haired kid, smaller and younger than him, looking at him from behind one of the crates. "Is this yours?" The child nodded, and Cloud gently rolled the ball to him. "Here." The boy picked it up, but stayed staring at him. "What?"

"You fought a monster."

" . . . Yeah, kind of, why?" The boy's courage failed him at that point, and he vanished leaving Cloud staring after him. Cloud shrugged after a moment, returning his focus to his training. After a few moments, he realized he was being watched, again. He turned to look at the boy from before, along with two others. " . . . Can I help you?" Something was niggling the back of his mind, but he couldn't think of what.

"Do you want to play with us?" One of the other boys asked.

"Play?" Cloud blinked, completely thrown. No one had ever asked- or if they had, it had been only once, before their parents stopped them. (After all, socializing with an illegitimate child was a dangerous thing to do in a small town.)

"Play, you know, like a game?"

"I've never played with anyone else before." Not completely true, he had gotten suckered into playing several games with Marlene and Denzel (Usually with Nanaki and sometimes a very reluctant Vincent or Cid- Reeve, Tifa, Yuffie and Barret never seemed to mind), but true in the sense he had never really played like a child.

The trio looked at him in shock, before losing their temerity and coming up to grab his hands. "C'mon, we'll teach you!"

* * *

Tifa sighed as she leaned back against her crate. Everyone else had gone home for the day, and she was waiting for the chance to speak to Cloud.

"Bye, _Nii-san_ see you tomorrow!" A trio of boys, all a couple years younger than her, ran off, waving to a familiar blond. Cloud quickly climbed up over to her.

"_Nii-san_?" She looked at him trying to read his expression.

"Kadaj. Apparently, even without Jenova, I'm their brother."

"Ka- what?" Tifa gaped at him.

"Don't you remember what Hojo said when we ran into him? He used survivors from Sephiroth's rampage to make clones?" Tifa nodded, following where he was going. "Three kids escaping the fire wouldn't have been noticed by Sephiroth, but Hojo probably found them, and started to turn them into clones. Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz are codenames that they came up for each other while they're playing. I'm betting that stuck to them while they went through Hojo's experiments. He moved the 'successes' to the Northern Crater, remember."

"I always thought their names were childish, but I didn't think . . ." Tifa shook her head. "That means the one we fought . . ."

"Was another survivor from Nibleheim? Yeah. Kind of strange to think, but we've got a chance to keep them from becoming puppets."

How had she not thought of this before? Kadaj and the other two had acted so childish; it was obvious that they were still kids when Hojo had gotten to them. Then again, it was easy to focus on the appearance of Sephiroth, and the manipulations of Jenova to forget that the body they fought belonged to someone else, someone who had been erased by Hojo.

As if they needed another reason to protect their town- or rather (in Cloud's case) another group of people to protect. Cloud didn't care much about places, he preferred to protect people.

"So, _Nii-san_, what are you going to do with your little pack tomorrow?"

"Learn how to be a kid, I guess." He went silent for a moment. "You do realize we're going to have to go through puberty again? I don't remember much of it, but I am not looking forward to it." Tifa burst out laughing. "What, I'm being serious!"

"That's, haha, why, haha, I'm laughing!"

**Lucrecia's Cave, Location Uncertain**

She was a monster, she deserved this, the long litany of things she had done to deserve being trapped in stasis while occasionally suffering nightmares of what would happen to her son because of that monster's taint kept repeating with memories of Vincent lying unconscious in a lab, computers flashing red . . . she lost track of time in her crystal prison, but she hadn't lost complete awareness. Lucrecia Crescent was quite simply stuck between her body and the life stream, and was more than content to just rest there, and think about all that she had done wrong.

At the time, everything had just been so . . . logical and reasonable. She was a scientist, she had learned to put her emotions and opinions to the back of her mind when doing even simple experiments- they could color the results and lead to false data. It became a reflex, when she was in high stress environments, to emotionally retreat from a situation as best she could.

That reflex back-fired on her, and it should have been a big clue when a Turk, who was also supposed to treat a situation objectively, tried to warn her. The fact she had loved him hadn't been coloring her thoughts as much as she had thought.

Hindsight was a lot greater than 20/20. And trapped in a crystal, with her awareness caught between the lifestream and the real, physical world, there hadn't been much left to do but look back.

In the beginning of her imprisonment, she used to get glimpses of other people in the lifestream. Some occasionally noticed her, in particular, her mentor, Grimoire Valentine. He used to try and talk to her, but now he simply stood there, with his arms crossed, disappointed. The rest tended to avoid her, and no one in the physical world had ever approached her cave.

Today something had changed; she could feel it in the lifestream, and in the crystal that housed her physical body. Curious, she shifted to become more aware of the physical world, Grimoire was watching her, but this time, he looked like he was . . . anticipating? Unsure what to think of that, she focused, and then almost lost her focus as she recognized the figure in front of her, just on the other side of the water.

_Vincent_. His hair was longer, he wore a cape over a black outfit, but she could still recognize him. He moved the same, and even under the hair and behind the high collar, his face was the same (thinner, but still the same).

"Lucrecia." He'd stopped on the other side of the water, tips of gold boots touching the water's surface and causing ripples.

"Vincent." Talking wasn't the easiest thing, though it wasn't really talking, she guessed, since her physical body couldn't move. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He must've found her research by now, known what she'd done to him. _I'm so sorry, I love you but I hurt you so much, I know I don't deserve you but I still love you._ "Stay back!" He had tried to move forward. He must not have known how tainted she was- had she left that information out?

"No, Lucrecia, not this time." What did he mean by that? "This time, you're going to listen to me. I've given you enough time and space."

"You can't take me out, Jenova's taint." She was losing focus again, this was taking up too much energy, and her sense of panic was making it more difficult. But he cut her off before she could warn him further.

"Can't I?" Grimoire smiled, satisfied, before vanishing as Vincent stepped forward- and turned into Chaos.

Lucrecia didn't remember what happened after Chaos stepped on the water and reached for the crystal. There was a faint memory of pain and fear, right before everything went black.

It took her sometime to wake up from the blackness, but when she did she found herself staring at red. Moving her head took too much effort, so she just moved her eyes- from what she could tell, she was being carried out of the cave.

"Vuh . . . Vincent?" She managed to slur.

"I've got you, it's okay, just rest." She was too tired to really argue that, but her brain seemed happy to wake up anyway, despite her body's physical exhaustion. She was pretty sure all her mental capabilities were working fine.

"You got the lass! Is she alright?" Or maybe not. There was a talking cat with boots and a cape. A definite hallucination- hadn't she read a folktale involving a cat with boots when she was a child? "You gave her enough of a dose?"

"Vincent, why is the cat talking?" There was a slight huff of breath, and she realized he was silently laughing. That struck her as significant, but she couldn't bring her thoughts back to order as she slipped into sleep.

Over the next couple of days, they camped near the cave. Lucrecia managed to regain control of her head- she could blink when she wanted to, and her words no longer slurred- as well as her arms. Grant it, she was exhausted afterwards, but she could move them.

Anything below her waist was a different story. She couldn't even twitch her toes, let alone move her legs. She could still feel them, but she couldn't move them.

Vincent had simply explained it as a result of using Chaos to pull her out of the crystal, combining with the effects of Mako addiction (borderline poisoning) and backlash from the Jenova cells still in her body. (Lucrecia was trying to figure out how Chaos, who was supposed to be a destroyer and return things to the lifestream, managed to pull her out of it. Vincent hadn't explained anymore, and Chaos would never speak to her.)

The rest of the explanation made a certain kind of sense, though why using naturally created Mako to keep her from falling apart was any better than the kind ShinRa produced had not been explained.

"As much as I would prefer to wait until you're recovered, it might be better if we got you someplace with a roof." Vincent finally announced.

"Aye, I need ta be getting back to Mideel." The cat, which was actually a robot named Cait Sith 1.0, nodded. "Don't forget to use your PHS if you need anything. Reeve made sure they couldn't be traced."

Vincent nodded, and helped the cat onto a Chocobo. Once he was gone, Vincent turned to look at her. They hadn't spoken of anything other than getting her to recover, and Lucrecia had focused on that for the past couple of days, too tired to think of anything else (she hadn't wanted to think about anything else). " . . . I'll brief you on the way."

"Right." There was still a gap between them, and Lucrecia tried to keep herself from reaching across. She failed miserably. "Vincent, I'm,"

"Don't." He stopped her. "Don't keep apologizing for saving my life. It might not have been the kindest way, but you still saved it." Red eyes (and she tried not to think how that had happened- Chaos's eyes were gold, she remembered) burned into hers. "You were the reason I survived, Lucrecia." She felt his words like a slap. How he could say that after what happened threw her- it wasn't . . . well, logical. He should hate her. "I'm not going to let you keep destroying yourself. You made several mistakes, but there's still a chance you can fix them before it's too late. You have a chance to save your son, Lucrecia."

"How can you be so sure?" _How can you be so sure I can redeem anything after all I've done?_

"I know what could happen, and your right, even if we do try, we might not be able to save him. But if we don't try, we'll lose him for sure."

" . . . We?"

"You, me, and several other allies. Our goal is to take out Jenova and Hojo. With those two gone, there's a chance we might be able to stabilize Sephiroth and keep him sane." Lucrecia blinked, trying to wrap around the idea of being able to save her son. Jenova was so strong . . . but Vincent acted like defeating her was a foregone conclusion. Vincent was a Turk, a problem solver/trouble shooter, and Turk's rarely went up against someone or something without knowing they could succeed or at least have the most favorable outcome. If he thought it was possible, then, well, logically it had to be.

And to be honest, Lucrecia wanted her son. Hojo hadn't even let her hold him before taking the baby away, and Gast hadn't been there to help. There had been guards that kept her out of the lab where he'd been held, and she hadn't been able to sneak past, not even using a couple tricks Vincent had shown her. Hojo had just laughed at her attempts, and that memory made her blood burn.

She might not ever be a good mother, might not even deserved to be called one, after letting herself be convinced by that madman to experiment on her own child, but she was not going to run away again. She was going to save her son.

Whether or not he wanted her, she didn't know, but at least, she could fix her mistake in some way, and give him a chance.

"I'm in." Vincent ducked his head, corners of his lips twitching in a smile. Something Lucrecia hadn't seen in years. It was startling to realize how easily she'd forgotten that Vincent had been her friend (late nights drinking coffee, complaining about paperwork, similar interests and modes of operation, swapping stories of idiotic co-workers) before they had slipped into being lovers. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed that. She might never be his lover again, but she'd take anything he gave her.

Including the promise of a second chance at saving her son.

Vincent stayed silent as Lucrecia took his words to heart, but he wasn't fooled. The woman in front of him was nowhere near healed, and probably would never really heal. Right now, she could be determined and focused, her mind temporarily forgetting the pain and horror she had been through, but sooner or later she would relapse and he'd have to help her deal with her self-created demons.

Nowhere close to being healed, but she had taken a step forward, and he was going to make sure she kept on walking, even if he had to drag her part of the way.

* * *

**I think there's going to be one or two more chapters in Part 1, before skipping ahead a few years to part 2. Though there ****might be an interlude chapter. (Everyone still in character? Are you still following the story?)**

**Next chapter: We'll check on how everyone is settling in (Genesis and Lucrecia in particular) Reeve will have more time in the spotlight, Nanaki will have more than one line, and Rufus and Lazard will also star. (Sorry, Barret won't make an appearance- that I know of, this story is starting to write itself.)**

**You'll notice I don't describe everything that's happening, mostly because I'm focusing on various characters and their reactions- if I did write everything that happened, this story would be too long, and I (with possibly several readers) would then lose interest, meaning those with continued interest would be left hanging. (If I ever skip too much, let me know, I'll go back and try and edit it.)**

**Initially, I was going to write the part where Genesis gets traded for free passage out of Wutai, but I couldn't get the mood just right, so I'll leave it up to your imaginations. Eventually, I might do part of it in a flashback.**

**Somehow, Cid's managed to take Sephiroth (and Angeal) under wing. I'm not actually sure how that's happened, cause I didn't actually plan that. It just happened while I was writing. (And, quadruple checking- Wutai isn't that far from Nibelheim, right? I get the map confused pretty easily . . .)**

**Using 'Nii-san' instead of 'Brother'- 'Nii-san' carries a certain amount of respect and affection that you just don't find using the English word 'Brother'. Japanese culture is very polite and respectful, and it's not uncommon for younger kids to refer to older ones (cousins, family friends and even occasionally strangers) as 'Nii-san' (boys) or 'Onee-chan' (girls). However, the term can also be somewhat insulting, especially if used to convey an affection that doesn't actually exist (You see an example of this in Advent Children (1****st**** version or Complete)- Kadaj and the remnants call Cloud 'Nii-san', but it's insulting to Cloud and the trio are clearly mocking him with the title- just listen to the tone of their exchanges in Japanese and watch their faces, you don't even need the subtitles).**

**I always thought the names of the remnants (Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz) sounded like make believe names that kids would come up for each other while playing, so I decided to run with it. I don't think I'll ever come up with (or even use) their 'real' names, (same with 'Mrs.' Strife) but that could change.**

**Please leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Still don't have the rights.**

**I went back and edited the first two chapters, I added a couple scenes that were on my outline, but I apparently forgot to write, and fixed information on one of the characters. (I warned you all that I was new to the fandom- I still get information wrong.) So you might want to check that out. (Let me know what you think!)**

**Nibelheim, Nibel Mountains**

Tifa closed her bedroom door, and then almost screamed before recognizing the figure just beside her window. "Damnit, Vincent, don't do that!" Dusk outside, and Vincent really did look like a vampire from a story book here to carry her off.

The gunman hid his smile, before tossing her a small bundle, inside was a pair of Crystal studded gloves and a PHS. "PHS from Reeve, it's untraceable. I saw the gloves while I was in Mideel. Got a couple other weapons, but I left most with that area's Cait Sith."

"Thanks, Vincent." Tifa gave him a hug, which he allowed. "Did it go okay?"

"She's settling in at the Strife house." Vincent hesitated, then sighed. "I think it would be beneficial if we brought Mrs. Strife into our confidence. She's already suspicious, though she'll never say anything."

"What's Cloud got to say?"

"He's left it up to us."

"Does Lucrecia know?"

"Not yet, I left it out when I told her what was going on. She was having trouble staying awake on the trip back."

" . . . Dad would never believe us . . . yeah, it's okay to tell her." Tifa nodded. Vincent rested his human hand on her head. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I find it amusing, yes. I'd forgotten how young you three actually were when we saved the planet."

"Yuffie was sixteen, wasn't she?" Tifa mused, then shook her head. "You better go before Dad comes up."

"See you around." Then he was gone. Tifa closed her window with a soft sigh. At least she could set up her PHS tonight.

* * *

"You're not joking." Mrs. Strife stared at Vincent, who met her gaze evenly, and at her son, who was looking at her with oh-so-old eyes that didn't belong.

"Time travel's impossible . . ." At least Lucrecia Crescent was just as stunned. (The woman was wearing some of Mrs. Strife's clothes.)

"Not impossible, it's just . . . expensive. It requires a lot of energy, and a lot of people. A single person to go back in time has a higher risk of simply disappearing than a group of people. The goddess Minerva and several others helped us make it back, at the cost of their lives." Mrs. Strife watched her son's gaze darken slightly.

"Does this have anything to do with why my son was a bloodied mess?" Vincent winced.

"Prior to meeting Cloud and the rest, I was . . . imprisoned in ShinRa manor. I couldn't escape, someone had to let me out. Cloud and Tifa came to help me, but the place where the key was hidden was protected by a monster. Your son took on the monster while Tifa got me out. I finished the monster before it killed Cloud."

"So, you just gave a heavily edited version of the truth, then." Mrs. Strife frowned, then got up and left the room. Cloud and Vincent shared an uneasy glance, while Lucrecia shifted in the recliner she had been set in.

"Sephiroth . . . he . . ."

"He died the first time- but that was more Hojo and Jenova's fault than anything. Only, we didn't see the danger he was in until after their trap had been sprung." Cloud went over and sat by her. "He's a good person, he deserves a second chance."

" . . . Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be reading a lot of old notes?" Lucrecia muttered to herself, as Mrs. Strife came back in holding a jewelry box.

"Mom?"

"Well, if you're going to be trying to do things under the radar, you're going to need a better cover story for the Doctor's existence than the one you tried to give me." Mrs. Strife gestured for Vincent to sit down, and much to Lucrecia's and Cloud's amusement, he obeyed. She pulled the small coffee table over, and dumped out the contents of the box, there were a lot of rings.

"Mom?" Cloud repeated, surprised.

"Before you were born, your father and I were in Junon. There's an old well there where men and women who either divorced or were planning to tossed their wedding and engagement rings."

"How did you get them?" Lucrecia looked at one with a diamond the size of an almond.

" . . . We were a bit . . . reckless, then. He lowered me down and I grabbed as many as I could. I've sold a few when necessary."

"So stealing runs in the family, then?" Vincent caught the pillow Cloud threw at him. Mrs. Strife ignored them both.

"As I've already told Vincent, single women are either courted and married, or the subject of rumors. It would cause much less waves if the two of you were married, and Vincent brought you here so you could have someone to look after you." Mrs. Strife addressed Lucrecia. Who was still slightly bemused by everything. "I'm sure you can find a ring that will fit."

"There's a slight problem with that." Vincent held up his left, gauntleted arm.

"You can wear it on a chain around your neck, then. It's not uncommon for men or women to do that." Mrs. Strife dismissed the concern, then looked at Cloud, who was staring at the pile of rings in surprise. "While you're doing that, I am going to be speaking with my son." Cloud blinked in confusion, but followed her out of the room.

"I swear, that woman could have been a Turk." Vincent muttered, looking at the various rings. Lucrecia smiled- for an ex-turk, that was quite a compliment. "Veld would have loved her."

"She'd give him a run for his money in the 'no nonsense' department, that's for sure."

Cloud looked up at his mother, unsure of what to say or how to act. She looked down at him for a moment, before scooping him up as she sat down on her bed, settling him on her lap. "I love you, my little Cloud. Nothing will change that, not even time travel." Cloud started and stiffened, before relaxing into her embrace.

"Even if I became a monster?" Cloud managed.

"Even then- I'd be scared for you, but I'd still love you." Cloud just buried his face into her neck, unaware of the tears leaking out of his eyes.

"Love you, Mom."

"I love you more." And there would be hell to pay if she ever got her sights on the monsters responsible for hurting her son. "What do you remember?"

" . . . you telling me what sort of girl would be best to date, laughing at my response . . . I like your stew . . . everything else is just impressions." Change that, she was going to murder them slowly, cut them up into little bits and feed them to the wolves. She held her son tighter, gently rocking him.

"So, any girls in the future I should be aware of? You did find someone that would take care of you?"

" . . ." She pulled back to see his wide-eyed look and smiled.

"Well? I'm sure I could get Vincent to tell me."

Vincent and Lucrecia both looked up at the sound of Cloud's yelp.

"I hope they're okay . . ."

"They are, his mother is teasing him." Vincent studied the rings he had sorted, discarding any with inscriptions almost immediately (those tended to be easier to trace) and any that were far too gaudy (what sort of man wore a ring with gemstones in the shape of flowers, anyway?) leaving about a third of the pile. "Do you want an engagement ring, wedding band, or both?" He'd already found a plain gold band he could put on a chain, it fit the ring finger on his right hand.

"I guess, since you're a monster hunter, we should just go with one ring, preferably a wedding band- ah." Lucrecia's hands fumbled and Vincent reached out to steady them. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault. Did you see one you liked?"

"Yes, it's a simple gold band with diamonds in it . . ." He sorted through the rings, as she gave the direction. "There. What do you think?"

'_That Mrs. Strife loves to make situations more complicated then they have to be- in very practical ways._' Vincent studied the ring, it was a simple gold band, with three small diamonds placed to form a triangle. It could easily pass as either a wedding band or engagement ring, depending on the situation. "Practical." Lucrecia raised an eyebrow at him. "Let's see if it fits."

The situation was slightly awkward as she held out her hand for him to put the ring on. For one, it was too reminiscent of some of his very old fantasies, two, as much as he still loved the woman in front of him, he wasn't in love with her. He could act like it if questioned, he'd done a few undercover missions (Veld had always been amused when he had gotten the assignments) enough to keep his emotions separate . . . but this still felt too much like him compromising something.

Not that he had much of a choice- Cloud's mother was right, it would cause less waves if they pretended for now, at least until Lucrecia was recovered and Cloud was ready to go to Midgar. He pushed his emotions aside, and put the ring on her finger. It fit, but it brought up some unpleasant thoughts.

"Hojo never got you a ring, did he?" She'd never had a ring on her hand, now that he thought about it.

" . . . It wasn't practical, especially since I was still doing lab work- it would have gotten contaminated or something." Lucrecia studied the ring on her finger. "Besides, it was a common law marriage- pretty much just a contract, plus a judge and two witnesses to make it official. Should have been my first clue, I don't think he meant for the marriage to last past my giving him a child." Her hand dropped into her lap.

"You're getting tired again." Lucrecia nodded and leaned back in the chair.

"Sorry."

"It's okay . . . you probably should sleep." He glanced at the stairs for a moment, before scooping her up, bridal style. "We can talk more in the morning." She rested her head on his shoulder. She could sleep in his bed, he'd take the couch for now (not that he really wanted or needed to sleep as often as anyone else).

Vincent was pretty sure Cloud was watching in curiosity, somewhere, as he entered into the room he had been staying in. Proof was in the fact that the covers on the bed had been turned down so someone could be placed into the bed easily. Lucrecia was practically asleep, so he just put her down and tucked her in before turning to leave.

"Vincent?" He blinked, and looked over at her. " . . . Would . . . you stay until I'm asleep?"

"I will." He moved to sit in the arm chair by the bed. "Good night, Lucrecia."

"Night . . ." It wasn't that much longer before she was in a deep sleep, but Vincent didn't move for a moment longer. That had been . . . different, for her. She probably hadn't even realized she had said that aloud, being mostly asleep. With a soft sigh, he stood up. He'd give Cloud the Crystal sword he'd found in Mideel, which would join the Rune Blade he had found while hunting. Reeve and Barret were working on getting weapon caches for the group set up in the various cities.

It took a few days of trial and error, but eventually the four found themselves slipping into a routine. Mrs. Strife would help Lucrecia get ready in the mornings while Vincent and Cloud did chores and trained. Afternoons had Cloud off playing, and Vincent helping Lucrecia regain strength in her arms, Mrs. Strife doing the usual odd jobs she did for gil. Vincent would then leave to go hunting, sometimes taking Cloud, while Mrs. Strife and Lucrecia got things ready for dinner- or slept, depending on how much energy Lucrecia had expended.

"Look." Mrs. Strife got Lucrecia's attention from where she had been folding napkins. Through the window, they could see Cloud struggling to keep up with Vincent's long strides with a look of stubborn determination. Vincent noticed and shortened his strides, but Cloud looked at him in annoyance.

"He keeps forgetting he's only . . . 8, physically?" Lucrecia looked up at the woman.

"Yep, Vincent doesn't help matters, always deferring to him."

"I don't think Vincent can help that- from what they've said, Cloud was/is the leader, and Vincent sees him as the man he followed into a pretty risky gamble. How he looks hasn't changed that."

"Still . . ." Mrs. Strife shook her head. She moved away to look at dinner, while Lucrecia turned to a book she'd been trying to read. It was a little frustrating, when her hands would stop working and she couldn't even hold the book let alone turn a page. Cloud entered, and came up to her.

" . . . What are you reading?"

"A really old adventure story." She showed him the page she was on, then noticed as his eyebrows scrunched together slightly as he studied the words. "Cloud . . . do you know how to read?" Cloud promptly looked a little uncomfortable.

"I . . . sorta."

"I probably only taught him the basics, here the parents teach their children, and I've never really had time, with all the odd jobs that I do." Mrs. Strife looked in.

"Cloud?" Lucrecia looked at him.

"I don't remember learning . . . but I can read, sometimes it just takes me a while. Besides, I can remember what people tell me, so I haven't really needed to read and write."

" . . . Would you like me to teach you, then? You might not need it, but it's a good skill to have." Lucrecia wasn't sure why she was offering. A part of her was horrified that such a smart person had never learned to read past the basics, another part was just plain curious about the boy that Vincent constantly, occasionally subconsciously, deferred to.

"If you want, I don't want to bother you . . ."

"It's not a bother, besides, this way I can have someone else turn the pages when I get tired." That earned a small quirk of a smile.

"You two can start after dinner. Where's Vincent?" Mrs. Strife frowned. Cloud shrugged.

Vincent was on the roof, stunned from what he had just heard. He known that Barret had poor literacy skills, as did Nanaki, though that was from knowing how to read several different languages, he occasionally mixed up word order, and Tifa had occasionally needed to borrow Marlene's vocabulary book, but it had never occurred to him that Cloud had difficulty. Then again, when the blonde wrote something down, it was usually where things had to be delivered and how much he was being paid, along with Fenrir's fuel consumption and maintenance. Not something that needed a lot of skill, and Cloud's ability to speak and hold a conversation had more than made up for it. He'd always assumed the blonde was able to read.

This also answered the question of why Cloud hadn't made it into soldier the first time, (Something had that had confused Vincent, because faulty memories and genetic enhancements couldn't create the raw skill that Cloud had when fighting, and he clearly didn't have a problem with Mako unless doused to the extreme) he would have needed the skill to write comprehensive reports, Cloud had probably been made a trooper until his literacy skills improved, which wasn't uncommon. Turks also took the time to make sure their people could read and write so they could decode and understand reports (usually this was done by putting said Turk-to-be in an office and forcing them to write up a bunch of reports until they got it down). Such a simple little thing had made such a big difference . . .

He wasn't going to say anything, of course, but it was an interesting puzzle piece just the same. Right now, it was time for dinner.

**Royal Palace, Wutai**

Genesis leaned back against the bare wall of his room (cell) and took a deep breath, drawing his knees up to his chest. It had already been a few days, and he had been moved into the Spartan room with a pallet for a bed, a small table you had to kneel at, and a small bathroom and closet. He still had most of his stuff, save his materia and sword. Loveless lay open beside him, but he didn't pay any attention to his favorite play.

It had been easy, in the heat of the moment to make sure Angeal and Highwind didn't do anything, and Sephiroth had been too stunned to stop him. But now, the realization of how long he'd have to stay here, locked in a room with a barred window and no way out unless someone unlocked the door, had hit like a sucker punch.

He wanted Angeal. Angeal had always watched out for him, had always been there when he needed him, it was so wrong, not having him here. Not that he wanted Angeal to be a prisoner, either, but he did wish he had someone with him. Genesis felt his lips twitch into a small smile. Angeal would probably mother-hen over Sephiroth, now. Despite being built like an ox, his friend had a very soft side that he never liked admitting to.

Genesis tried not to feel too jealous over that. He was the oldest and Sephiroth was the youngest of the three- out of all of them, Sephiroth deserved to be fussed over some, by someone who wasn't interested in his blood or how good of a killing machine he was.

He blinked, realizing two things- one he was crying (and was that embarrassing) two, the little Princess was crouching in front of him, looking at him in concern.

"What?" He failed at keeping his voice from becoming sharp. He could hear Angeal's scolding.

"I'm sorry." Genesis blinked, anger deflating. "I tried to talk Father out of it, but he wouldn't listen." She scowled. "'Traditional laws must be upheld when faced with destruction.'" It was an attempt to imitate her father, but he couldn't be amused by it. She noticed and almost visibly deflated. "I got Father to agree to you being in my custody, though, so you won't get hurt by any other idiots." Genesis sighed, and put his head down.

"I don't want to play with you."

"You don't have to. I'm just letting you know that you're going to be safe from torture or assassination while you're here." Genesis blinked. The princess had said that in childish exasperation, but near the end it had slipped into sarcasm. She had her arms crossed and was looking at him in annoyance. "You made a decision, don't second guess it."

" . . . That's . . . mature of you."

"Why do people keep saying that? And it's something Captain Cigarette said, I'm just repeating it." She sighed, and then sat next to him. "If we aren't going to play, is there anything you want to do? I can't take you outside just yet, and weapons and materia aren't allowed. I could bring you more books, though, you like stories, right?"

" . . . Yeah."

"Okay, I'll visit once a day to check up on you. We can play then, or you can teach me something, like how to use a materia, or I can teach you something, I know lots . . ." she scrunched up her nose in concentration, thinking of different things. "Oh! You don't have to call me by my station when it's just us, you can keep calling me Yuffie, and whatever you do, don't go anywhere with anyone other than me, there are a couple of stuffed idiots that are really mean and I don't trust them at all. I can't protect you if my Father decides to be mean, but I can protect you from anyone else." Genesis blinked, torn between amusement at her rapid fire speech and slight concern over what 'being mean' actually meant. "You can't give up, either, cause you're not staying here, Angel and Sephy are going to get you out." He still couldn't stop the amusement at the Princess' continued butchering of his friends' names.

"You think so?"

"Uh-huh, You protected them, they have to rescue you- and Angel would do it anyway, cause he's your best friend, and I think Sephy would do it, cause you and Angel are his only friends, but since he didn't even know how to play, it might take him a while to realize he's supposed to." Yuffie nodded to herself, and Genesis tried not to laugh as the child pointed out Sephiroth's lack of social understanding. "It might take them a while, anyway, since we're going to be fighting . . ."

Genesis looked at the open play, eyes landing on a familiar line. " 'Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return.'" Yuffie looked up at him. "I wonder if this makes me the Prisoner . . ."

"I think you're more of the hero- letting yourself get captured for your friends to be safe is heroic, too." Genesis blinked at Yuffie, who gave him an innocent look. "What, you read that book straight through, I liked the story, even if it made no sense at times."

"Princess." Yuffie huffed, but stood.

"Coming." She hugged Genesis. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"I'll be here." Genesis muttered, standing as well, and closing the book. He watched her leave as the door closed, and then sighed. " 'I'll come back to you. Even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return . . .'" He shook his head. "You two better come for me, I don't think I'm going to escape anytime soon." He remarked to the open window, studying the open sky.

Yuffie, meanwhile, was studying a map. She was on her own for as long as the war lasted- unless Vincent managed to get here, but even then, he might not be able to talk to her. She would have to take care of Genesis on her own, which would have been difficult even if he hadn't been a Soldier.

Yuffie rocked back on her heels, nodding to herself. She didn't know much about the Soldier program, but she did know that it required regular Mako injections. How regular, she didn't know, but she knew the result was that Cloud could handle being splashed with Mako (and even submerge in the lifestream) and that was at the extreme.

And anything that could be taken as an injection could also be oral, if mixed correctly. Especially since she had to be sneaky in giving it to him. This way, he didn't weaken as the mako left his system and collapse from withdrawal. The problem was figuring out the right dose and delivery . . . which is why she hoped Vincent would visit soon, because she didn't remember how Cloud had been treated after he had collapsed.

Maybe she should start with a teaspoon of it in tea? That amount daily shouldn't hurt, and it should keep him from collapsing . . . at least until she could talk to Vincent, and get his opinion, maybe get that actual dose and frequency. Cloud and Vincent had both been saturated in the stuff to the point they didn't need to be given anymore- she was pretty sure that they got replenished just by being in a place with material and or life stream. Genesis would still need to have Mako given to him, she was pretty sure.

There was a hidden Mako spring under her home, ShinRa had never found it, and technically, she wasn't supposed to know it existed yet, it was supposed to be a sacred place and only approached on special occasions.

Well, she was a time traveler with the planet's permission to dabble and change things. That rule no longer applied to her. Besides, it was for a good cause, which was taking care of the Soldier Cloud had talked about before . . . she stopped that train of thought. She'd take good care of him, for Cloud, and because she liked his materia collection. (Maybe he'd let her keep it?)

It took her only a few minutes to sneak past security and all the warnings that were put in place about the mako spring. Playing with the Soldiers and Cid hadn't just been about fun, but also relearning her body's limits. With a soft huff, she knelt at the edge of the spring.

"You know, it would have been nice if you had given us an instruction booklet or something on 'What to do when something unexpected happens'. Though there are some perks to being a four year old genius, it's really kinda insulting to have to be talked down to all the time, especially by the guy I'm trying to help." She informed it, knowing full well the Planet wouldn't answer. "I don't suppose you'd tell me how much Mako to give him and when?" No response, not that she had been expecting one. Carefully, she ladled out a small amount into the gourd she carried. She repeated the action until the bottom half was filled, however, the last time, the ladel came up dry with two marble sized materia. "Uh . . ." She capped the gourd, then picked up one of the materia. It was a Heal, as was the other. " . . . I'm going to take this as a sign of how to bond with this guy, correct me if I'm wrong." No answer, and Yuffie had spent long enough down there. She hid the ladle in a rock niche, and put the two materia in a pouch around her neck. They weren't offensive, and couldn't hurt anyone, so she'd be able to give Genesis one and keep the other for herself.

She made it back to her room with no mishap, and quickly hid the gourd in one of her sneakier hiding places before going to sleep, holding the small pouch. She'd start collecting weapons for her friends once she got Genesis taken care of.

**Cosmo Canyon**

Reeve breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the entrance to the village. He had discovered several things about himself on this 'vacation' (being off the grid was a much better option than coming here for research), number one being that he didn't care for Chocobo riding, and two, he especially didn't like traveling alone. (Three, he needed more practice with Materia. The current Cait Sith was more battle capable than him.)

"What is your business here?"

"I wish to speak with Elder Bugenhagen, as well as visit your village, I'm curious about your windmills." That came out in a slight rush, and Reeve winced, but the guard just seemed amused, and nodded.

He got the Chocobo stabled, before being directed to Bugenhagen's residence/observatory/library.

"I'm afraid the guard didn't get your name." Bugenhagen greeted him.

"My name's Reeve Tuesti." He nodded.

"And where do you work?"

"ShinRa, I'm the head of Urban Development, I'm looking into alternatives to Mako energy."

"Which is why you are here." Bugenhagen studied him. "I do not approve of ShinRa's business, draining the planet's life."

"Neither do I, but I have to have some alternative to offer if we can shut down the reactors."

" . . . I see. Why should I trust you with our secrets? Your company is at war with a nation over the Promised Land that they believe is there."

"I realize that . . . the company I am a part of is blatant in its disrespect for the planet. There are people within it, however, that joined believing that they could protect or improve the planet in some way. Myself being one of them."

Something caught the elder's eye, and he gave a slight nod. "I will consider it, in the meantime, feel free to look at some of the books . . . I will return shortly with my answer." Reeve watched, slightly bemused as the elder quickly left.

In the small corridor, Bugenhagen looked at the second of his 'grandchildren' with concern. "Deneh, where is Nanaki, have you found him?"

"No, he's hidden himself good this time." Her tail lashed in frustration. "Who's your guest?"

"A member of ShinRa, he claims he is here to look at alternatives to mako. Would you like to meet him?"

"I would find it entertaining." Deneh followed her grandfather, but the two didn't make it back into the room.

"Reeve!" They stopped as Nanaki entered, and warmly greeted the man who had been studying the shelves.

"Nanaki, it's good to see you again old friend." Bugenhagen and Deneh traded looks, then snuck closer to eavesdrop, watching as Nanaki got up on his hind legs to wrap the man in a hug. "I was trying to think up ways to meet you . . . anything to report?"

"I need a bracer, but I don't know how to get one without setting off alarms, I've started to collect headdresses again, and I've adjusted back just fine. The Planet is quite silent, though I feel that it's gathering its strength as well."

"So's everyone else, including me . . . I've debated about taking up learning to use materia as well- I don't think I'm going to get the luxury of sitting in the sidelines this time." Bugenhagen frowned.

The planet had been slightly agitated a while ago, around the time Nanaki started to act distant, but it had vanished quickly, and by now it had gone mostly quiet, with only some unrest in the directions of Midgar and Wutai. He and Deneh had been at a lost to explain it, but apparently Nanaki and the man from ShinRa had been connected in some way.

This was outside anything he had studied, and apparently, the only two with answers were sitting right there. He and Deneh entered, and he might have been old, but he didn't miss the way Nanaki had shifted in front of Reeve, as if to protect him.

"It seems as if you've both been keeping information back from me. How about some tea as we try to be more open this time." Nanaki and Reeve shared a look of slight guilt, before Reeve sighed.

"The vampire and the chocobo have already told two outsiders, we have to keep the number small, but I think we can break our silence for them. Your grandfather was a valuable ally the last time." Nanaki nodded. Reeve took a deep breath. "Sir, my name is Reeve Tuesti . . . and believe it or not Nanaki and I are part of a group that traveled back in time to save the planet." Reeve sat down, and Nanaki lay down next to him. "I can't give you all the details on how or why, but . . . something happened, and we took the gamble in coming back. There are several large events that we are hoping to change, and one of them requires me to find as many alternatives to Mako energy that I can. I came here for two reasons, to study your alternative sources of energy, and to check in with Nanaki."

"I see. Nanaki?"

" . . . I need to re-learn how to use materia." Bugenhagen stiffened, and Nanaki sighed. "There are natural formed materia that I plan on using. They are actually much stronger and safer to use than the materia that is created by ShinRa. I have already found several that I have been practicing with. You might find it distasteful, but I have to learn to use it with even more skill this time around." Nanaki held his gaze, and Bugenhagen was uncomfortably reminded of Seto. "On that note, I need to get into the Caves, there are some items there that will help me be ready."

"May I learn too?" Deneh asked. "If you're . . ."

"Yes, I can show you." Nanaki nodded. Bugenhagen remained silent, more than a little confused and uneasy.

His logical mind told him that what they were talking about was wrong and impossible, but all his other senses, his heart, told him that Nanaki was different, and that he'd have to help or risk losing something. The Planet was practically silent, according to Nanaki it was preparing. He was brought out of his musings as Reeve gave both Nanaki and Deneh bracers to hold materia.

"Why did you bring such different sizes?"

"I wasn't sure what size you'd be."

"This isn't really comfortable." Deneh noted, studying her new accessory. Reeve leaned over to check the fit, leaving his back wide open to Nanaki. Bugenhagen felt a small smile form. Not many people, even in the village, were comfortable leaving their backs open to a creature that looked like it could tear them apart. It was a subconscious thing, leftover from when humans and beasts were competing for space and food, and it took quite a bit of time before one could grow comfortable with lowering their guard. It was also something that couldn't be faked.

"Better?" Reeve pulled back.

"Yes, thank you." Deneh studied him for a moment. Reeve, to his growing credit, didn't look away. "I'll help you, if you ever need help and Nanaki isn't there." She decided.

It took a few more hours of talking to hammer out some smaller details, during which Reeve gave Nanaki a PHS, and spent some time updating him on people and locations.

"What makes you sure you know what's right for the Planet?" Bugenhagen finally asked.

"Some things we might not be able to change, we know that there's the possibility we can make things worse." Reeve absently ran his fingers through Nanaki's mane, combing out tangles. "We're not going to try and change everything that went wrong. Each of us has things that we wished we could change. We're going to focus on those things . . . and helping each other."

**Sector 5 Slums, Midgar**

Rude had the day off, so he decided to do some reconnaissance on his own. He felt very uncomfortable in a sweatshirt and jeans instead of his suit, but that was apparently what he used to wear on his days off.

He found who he was looking for in the residential sector, a little girl with brown hair skipping rope with a couple other girls. Aerith Gainsborough was safe, and would be safe until the whole mess with Veld and Avalanche boiled over. He blinked, Aerith had stopped playing- having lost at her turn- and was staring at him. Without much hesitation, she came up to him.

"Are you like me?" Rude blinked, then gave a small smile. Children, Cetra or otherwise, were a lot more open than they had right to be.

"Somewhat, bit more ordinary than a special girl like you." He crouched down. "I'm Rude."

"No you aren't." Rude blinked, then chuckled.

"Rude's my name, not my personality." Aerith blinked, then nodded.

"I'm Aerith." She studied him. "The planet says something's changed."

"A lot of people got a second chance, myself included. You're going to have a lot of people that will be checking on you and protecting you in the coming years. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

"It's okay, I'm sure you did your best." She studied him. "If you ever need help, I'll be here."

"I'll let the others know." Rude nodded, then pulled out a packet of seeds. "I don't know if they'll grow, but I'm sure you'll find away." Aerith accepted the packet in surprise and delight. "Aerith . . . you know what ShinRa is, right?"

"The company that wants to catch me, they killed mom and dad." She looked at him confused. "You're part of it? But you're like me."

"I'll make sure they don't get you, okay? I'm one of the people that will protect you in the coming years . . . you can trust me. Not everyone in that company is bad." Aerith studied him, then nodded.

"I know." She glanced at where the game was winding down. "I have to go, thank you for the flowers!" She gave him a hug and rushed off. Rude watched her go, and gave a small smile. It stayed on his face as he wound his way back through the slums, though it got knocked off when he got ran into by a rushing kid. Reacting without a thought, he quickly rescued his wallet. Then looked at the surprised kid on the ground.

Spiky red hair, green eyes, and a face unmarred by red marks, but he recognized him anyway. _Reno_. Forcing the last memories of his red-headed partner from his mind, Rude gave him an unimpressed look. "Nice try, but you hit a little too hard."

" . . . Whatever, yo." The red-head hopped to his feet. "Like you could do better."

Rude should have just walked away. That's what his head was telling him. Walk away and pretend the kid wasn't worth his time.

"What's your name?"

"Reno." A painfully familiar smirk.

"Alright, Reno." Of course he didn't walk away, he couldn't. This was his partner, and Reno was worth every minute of exasperation and non-stop chatter that came with him.

Which was why the two soon had a competition of who could get the most wallets; Rude won by a coin purse.

**ShinRa Building, Midgar**

Rufus winced and rubbed his shoulder. Tseng had not gone easy on him today, and he'd landed slightly wrong. He sighed as he leaned against the wall of the elevator. Tseng had been staring at him strangely the past few sessions, and Rufus had just realized that all the instincts he'd had from the last time had come with him- things that Tseng had drilled into him. Thankfully, Tseng wouldn't push or say anything, but that didn't mean the other Turk wouldn't stop keeping an eye on him.

The elevator stopped, and Rufus looked at the display, confirming that he wasn't anywhere near the floor he wanted. As the doors opened, he shifted to a corner, hoping to not be noticed. Then blinked in surprise as the one person he had been trying to figure out how to even talk to entered.

Lazard didn't pay much attention to the person already in the elevator as he studied the top file on the stack he'd been carrying. War was going to involve a lot of paperwork, he could tell already. His attempt to hit the right button without dropping or shifting the paperwork failed as he hit two wrong buttons.

"Here, let me, what floor?" the other occupant moved to help.

"67th, thanks-" He looked at the other and blinked, somewhat surprised. "Mr. Shinra." He'd been aware of his younger half brother, but he hadn't been allowed to seek him out to talk with him.

"You're welcome." Rufus nodded, and then leaned against the wall. A slightly awkward silence fell between the two, as they just looked at each other. Lazard taking in the Turk style suit, and Rufus focusing on the slight exhaustion. Finally, Rufus gave a slightly mocking half smile. "We're brothers and we can't even make small talk." Lazard felt his lips twitch, before realizing what the other had said.

"You know? I thought . . ." That President Shinra would have covered it up. It would have been difficult to find any information without going to the slums, and his brother was definitely too sheltered for that, right?

"I figured it out awhile back . . ." Rufus admitted, looking vaguely uncomfortable. So he'd probably done something and found out. "I wasn't sure how to contact you."

" . . . I'm not supposed to talk to you." Lazard winced as he said it, especially as Rufus gave him a considering look. "President Shinra asked me not to."

"What's your PHS number? We can email instead." Lazard blinked, then smiled at the obvious loophole. "And I'm going to be working, so we'll probably be able to get away with work related topics." Lazard chuckled, then realized what he meant.

"You're working with the Turks?"

"I got tired of people telling me that I didn't know what real life was like." Rufus looked a little annoyed at that, and Lazard nodded, trying not to think about the fact his brother was in the Turks. He couldn't blame him for wanting to prove himself. (But did it have to be in a department with a low life expectancy?) "This is my stop." A quick exchange of numbers, and Lazard watched his half-brother walk away.

Ironically, both brothers had the exact same thought. _That could have gone worse._ It had been awkward, neither knowing how to talk to each other, but in the grand scheme of things, that was probably the best first contact they could have expected from two strangers with the same father.

Rufus breathed a sigh of relief as he walked to his destination, he didn't even have to stalk Lazard for a week to figure out his movements (as suggested by Rude) and wait for the times he was alone.

Hours later, Lazard picked up his PHS with a small smile as he noticed the new message.

From: RShinra

To: LDeusericus

Subject: Hello, Brother

* * *

**End Chapter, and End of Part one. The group has pretty much settled in- Barret refused to be written, and so I had to leave him out. I'm going to work on that for the next part. **

**Please Review, I really like having constructive Criticism, as it helps my writing immensely.**


	5. Chapter 5 Interlude 1

**Yeah, if I had the rights, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.**

**This chapter is divided into 'segments', which are things I wrote down to fill the passage of time, but thanks to one reason or another, I couldn't get actual chapters out of them. Some are humorous, others fairly serious, all key to the plot; I hope you'll enjoy them as I get the next chapter ready.**

**Also, I have a couple ideas for one shots, so be on the lookout for those, and if you have a suggestions, let me know.**

**Interlude: Headlines and Hot Topics**

* * *

Topic: Small Town Gossip

In a small town like Nibelheim, way off the beaten track, the news that ShinRa was at war with Wutai was only a minor source of interest.

The main source of interest? The fact the Monster Hunter was married and had brought his wife to Nibelheim.

"What sort of woman would marry a man that goes off hunting monsters?" The Innkeeper's wife demanded one day while talking with her usual gossip mates- the Sheriff's wife and the Baker's wife. (Up until her death, Mrs. Lockheart was part of this elite circle.) "Such a dangerous job, he might not come back!"

"About half the single women here were interested, Mr. Hart is quite a looker." The Baker's wife shrugged.

"Has anyone seen this mystery woman?" The Sheriff's wife asked.

"Apparently she's sickly, Mrs. Strife has to take care of her." The Baker's wife was the best source of information for everyday happenings.

"That's another thing, why did he move in with that woman?" The Innkeeper's wife scowled. "Something's not right there." The Sheriff's wife nodded while the Baker's wife took a sip of her tea to hide her expression. With Mrs. Lockheart gone, she lacked a fellow voice of reason.

"Why don't we pay a visit?" She suggested. "I have some bread we could bring over as a gift." The other two women almost immediately agreed, and the date was set.

None of the women had actually been to the Strife house, and were quick to frown upon the poorly maintained garden. Mrs. Baker ignored the other two's whispers and knocked on the door.

A moment of silence passed, before the door was opened and Mrs. Strife looked out at them. "Can I help you?"

"Heard you gained an extra mouth to feed, thought I'd bring some bread over." Mrs. Baker smiled politely, as she handed it over. "Would it be too much if we came in?"

"Not at all." The other's smile was just as polite, but a lot more forced. As they entered, Mrs. Baker noticed the lack of clutter- there were a few pictures of Mrs. Strife and her son, some crafts clearly done by both, but not much else. "Sitting room's over there, I'll just put this away . . . would you like anything to drink?"

"No, we don't want to intrude that long, dear." The Sheriff's wife tried, and ultimately failed, to be polite. Entering the room indicated, they got their first look at the 'Mystery' Mrs. Hart. She had long braided hair and was sitting in a chair with a blanket covering her.

"Hello." She was rather pretty, if a little pale and tired.

"Hello," Introductions were quickly given as the trio of women sat down. Mrs. Strife re-entered with a small snack tray, and sat down next to Mrs. Hart.

The Innkeeper's wife quickly started talking about other people in the village, the Sheriff's wife occasionally interjecting things, and worked their way to their real reason of visiting.

"It caused quite a stir, you know, when your husband first arrived. Everyone was so sure he was single, especially with such an eccentric look." Mrs. Hart didn't respond, so the Innkeeper's wife kept digging. "Of course, you probably know how he saved the children, but then when he started staying here . . ."

"Vincent may be eccentric, but he's very honorable." Mrs. Hart looked a little amused. "I doubt sharing anything besides a house crossed his mind."

"Of course, I meant no offense." Mrs. Strife looked like she highly doubted that, but held her tongue.

"Do you plan on having any children?"

"I'm afraid that's a bit of an impossibility . . . I . . . lost my first child, as well as the ability to have any more children." Mrs. Hart absently gripped the blanket covering her legs.

"Oh!" Mrs. Baker had stepped the Innkeeper's wife's foot to keep her from asking for any more details. "I'm so sorry . . ."

"It's alright, you didn't know." Mrs. Hart leaned back in the chair, and Mrs. Strife stood up.

"I think that's enough for today, my son and her husband will soon be here and I need to get dinner started." The trio of busybodies stood, saying good bye. On their way back to the village, they saw Mr. Hart and the Strife boy heading towards the house, both carrying bags from hunting.

Within the next few days, there was a lot more sympathy for the Hart's, especially considering they lost their only child. In this light, the rescue of the children made much more sense, and the possibilities and stories of how it happened were going back and forth.

"I think I preferred being a mystery." Lucrecia muttered as Mrs. Strife filled them in on the new rumors over dinner. "Do people here have nothing better to do?"

"Nope." Cloud muttered. "And Tifa started more." There was a soft huff from Vincent, and Cloud shot him a glare.

"Why, what happened?"

"Vincent told the other boys that the monster that attacked me was a Nibel wolf. Now Tifa's dubbed us the Wolf pack- and I already heard the Tanner's wife calling me a wolf."

"At least it's not Chocobos." Cloud shot Vincent another glare.

"Why do I get the feeling that's not the only problem?" Mrs. Strife commented to Lucrecia, who was starting to smile at the two's staring contest.

"Tifa sent a message to others telling them about it." Vincent's eyes were glowing in amusement. "Barret and Cid have been teasing him."

"So has everyone else." Cloud muttered.

* * *

Headline: First Blood

A few months later in Wutai, Genesis looked up from his book of Wutai mythology to see Yuffie entering.

"I thought you'd like to know . . ." She gave him a Wutai newspaper. There was a grainy picture of a familiar figure with light hair and a katana. The headline (roughly translated) read '_Silver Demon Attacks!_'. Genesis looked at her. "ShinRa won the first battle, casualties on both sides, but no civilian deaths, from what I understand, both sides are crediting Sephy with the win." She bit her lip.

"Anything on Angeal?" Genesis scowled as he struggled to read the newspaper. The books Yuffie had given him were in his language, though she had also given him a few beginner learning Wutainese books to improve his understanding of the language.

"Not that I know of." She admitted. Genesis gripped the newspaper tighter as he stared at the words. "Want me to teach you how to read?"

"I . . . Yes. Please." If his one of his sources of news was going to be in newspapers he couldn't read, he was going to have to learn. He wasn't going to force a child to read out-loud to him about a war that was hurting her people.

* * *

Topic: Secrets

"I could lose my job, y'know, ShinRa would probably execute me as a traitor." Cid commented almost conversationally. Vincent just remained silent and met his gaze. Cid wasn't fooling either of them. "Of course I'll take you to Wutai, but I can't guarantee a ride back."

"Just get me close to the shore, I'll make my way from there." Cid nodded, and headed out to the tarmac, muttering under his breath about ungrateful idiots with death wishes for comrades. No one paid him any attention. His co-pilot was a definite greenhorn, and spent most of the flight chattering away about inane things, while the rest of his crew tuned the man out.

"Captain, there's a storm up ahead."

"We'll skirt the edge." Cid checked the barometer, scowl forming. All of a sudden, his co-pilot gave a loud yell.

"HOLY CRAP, there's a DEMON out there!" Cid blinked, and glanced out the window at the storm clouds, before snorting.

Of course, Vincent would do the insane thing and ride on the outside of the plane. And he would transform into Chaos to fly the rest of the way. Crazy &!#&.

"The light up here can play tricks on you, especially in a storm. Stop daydreaming and get back to work." Was Cid's reply.

"But I'm serious!"

"Sure you are." The flight engineer agreed, not looking up from his station.

For Vincent, it was child's play to get to the Royal Palace, especially with the storm as cover. It was even easier to get into Yuffie's room. Vincent easily hid himself, and was rewarded roughly twenty minutes later when Yuffie- tinier than he'd expected her to be at this age- snuck back into her room.

"Can't say I think much of your security, Princess." She whirled, but didn't yell or scream. Instead, she grinned, and placed the gourd she was carrying on her bed.

"Vincent!" She hugged him despite him being soaked. "You came! I was starting to think I was going to have to do everything myself!"

"It took me a while to get away." He sat down against the wall, legs outstretched. "Here, gifts from Reeve, PHS is untraceable." She took it and very quickly set it up, sending a message with a grin. "Cid told me you have Genesis Raphsodos in your care."

"Yeah . . . that's the guy Cloud mentioned, right?" Yuffie dragged a towel over so she wouldn't have to sit on a soaking Vincent. "From before . . ." He allowed her to sit on him, leaning her head against his chest. Cid had mentioned that she had become even more 'clingy', and he didn't really mind.

"Yes." Vincent didn't know much else, Cloud had never explained Raphsodos' appearance and none of them had ever asked. All they knew was that he stayed either in the church with the buster sword, or at the old Loveless theater in Midgar. Cloud always came back from meeting him with cuts and bruises, and Vincent was pretty sure that there had been two times when the 'Crimson Commander' had saved Cloud's life.

But like most of the events leading to this gamble, none of them were willing to talk about it. Not that they had ever talked about the battles they had fought. Right after they were usually too tired or exultant, or busy scrambling to heal wounds or save anyone that might have been caught in the crossfire. Nothing had ever needed to be said.

"How is he doing?"

"He's . . . ill, I guess. It's kinda like he's de-toxing from something." Yuffie then explained her mako-infused tea she was giving him, and Vincent frowned. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No . . . I think you might be doing something right, but I'll have to check in with Lucrecia."

"Ah, you got her out?"

"Yes, we thought it would be idea to give her a second chance."

"What else is happening?"

"Well . . ."

* * *

Topic: Glimpse of the Future

Barret smiled as Dyne whirled Eleanor around the floor. In a few years, Marlene would be born. But for now, everyone was celebrating the two finally marrying each other. With a grin, he sent a message to Tifa.

From: Barret

To: Mama Bear

Subject:

Just so u know, Marlene's Mama and Papa finally got hitched. Hope that means our little girl's going to be coming into this world.

He grinned at her almost instant reply.

From: Tifa

To: Barret

Subject: Re:

Who changed my name to Mama Bear? And aren't you looking a little too far into the future? If it happens, it happens.

(Okay, so I hope it happens too, but we're going to have to wait.)

P.S. I figured out who changed my name on the email- Cloud's apparently still miffed at me calling him Wolfie.

* * *

Topic: Weight of Command

"Highwind." Cid glanced up at Sephiroth as the teen approached him where he waited for his plane to be unloaded of its supplies. His silver hair was a little longer, and he wore a familiar black leather jacket over his soldier's uniform- though he still had the shirt.

"General." Cid nodded, putting out his cigarette and stood. "How are you holding up?"

"Hard to say . . ." Sephiroth watched as several stretchers were loaded into another plane, this one medical. "I think I'm a poor commander."

"What makes you say that?"

" . . . I see the injured and the dead, and all I can think is I'm . . . glad it wasn't Angeal . . . or you." The teen looked uncomfortable.

"That's not a sign of a bad commander, Sephiroth. That's a sign of being human. You're not close to all your men, but you are close to Hewley, and I guess to me." Sephiroth blinked at him, and Cid offered a small smile. "It's human, to worry and want to see those close to you alive in one peace. The fact you feel guilty about that is proof you've got a compassionate heart for your men- that's all you need to be a good commander." Cid rested his hand on the other's shoulder.

"It doesn't feel like it's enough . . ."

"You're not a super human, kid, you can't save everyone . . . your men are trained for this, just like you have trained, on the battle field they'll look after themselves and their comrades as best they can, just like you do. No one's going to blame you for not doing enough when you fight with everything you've got."

"But . . ."

"I'm not saying don't save anyone . . . save as many as you can . . . but don't beat yourself up over the ones that you don't save." Sephiroth watched as the final stretcher was loaded, and the transport took off. "They don't blame you."

"Will it get any easier?"

"I haven't a clue, but it'll probably get worse before it gets better." Cid released his shoulder. "I'm going to have to take off in a bit, try to stay alive, will ya?"

"You as well." Sephiroth nodded.

* * *

Headline: Promotion

The morning paper was the cause of quite a celebration for those in the slums (though not everyone understood why they were celebrating). In one house, that morning's head line was framed: '_New Director for SOLDIER!_'.

"I hear congratulations are in order." Lazard glanced up from his desk as his half-brother entered the room. "Promotion to head of SOLDIER."

"Sorry, I didn't have time to message you."

"It's okay, I've been busy too." He put a file on the desk. "When you get the chance, it's from Veld."

"What happened to your arm?" Lazard noticed the bandages bulging slightly in his brother's sleeve.

"I got caught on a chain link fence- don't ask." Rufus absently rubbed his arm. "It's not a good story, though I have placed seventh on the 'stupid accidents' list."

"Do I want to know what the others are?"

"Considering the one ahead of me angered a mother chocobo . . . no, you don't." Rufus shook his head. "Do you mind if I stay for a bit?"

" . . . No." Rufus sank down onto a chair with a soft sigh, which made Lazard frown. "Are you alright?"

"I've been better. It's been a bad week." Wordlessly, Lazard got up, and got some tea for the both of them. "Thank you." The two stayed silent for a while after that.

* * *

Headline: Not so Innocent

Reeve stared at the headline and sighed. '_Gongaga Reactor Meltdown!_' was something that was somewhat familiar from the past timeline. Thankfully, the casualty list was small, and the village was safe from any fallout.

It was one of the older reactors, it was quite possible that maintenance checks had gotten looser as time went on, but something about this story struck him as odd.

He wasn't sure if it was because he had spent too much time with Avalanche or cleaning up ShinRa's messes, but something about this was sending up flares.

From: Cait Sith

To: RShinra

Subject: Gongaga Reactor

Call me paranoid, but I don't think it was as simple as a meltdown this time. Can you and Rude look into it?

From: RShinra

To: Cait Sith

Subject: Re: Gongaga Reactor

I've already started- Science had a lab there. Don't think anything escaped, but it's possible something tried to. What's better, Dr. Fuhito of AVALANCHE's RAVENS fame, was working there. He's currently MIA. I'm sending the warning to Wallace- this might be the start of this go round's AVALANCHE, since Felicia is in your department.

* * *

Topic: Clear Skies

Genesis leaned against the Sakura tree, trying to ignore the fact there were several hidden eyes watching him. Trips outside were rare, though he had been given some leeway in leaving his room during the day. He had finally had a growth spurt, which had necessitated Yuffie bringing in a tailor to measure him for new clothes, which had been kept fairly close to the soldier uniform. He had made a mistake in informing the little princess that he liked the color red- the clothes might have been black, but the belts and the jacket were red. (Genesis actually liked the look, the problem he had was that Yuffie was treating him like a dress up doll. She'd apologized, but he doubted she actually felt guilty about it.)

He looked up at Yuffie, who was happily sitting on a branch.

"I wonder what it would be like to fly . . . I bet you'd be able to go anywhere you want, with a sky that big."

"You have a knack for thinking up near-impossible dreams." Genesis looked up at the sky anyway. A familiar ache for a place and people outside of the Palace walls made him swallow. "I bet it would be pure freedom, though." Yuffie looked down at him. "Not having to be bound to any rules but your own . . ."

"You'll be free again someday, I promise." Genesis shook his head. "Hey, I haven't lied to you yet!"

"I'd rather not get my hopes up, Princess, and the fact 'someday' could even be 'today' or 'tomorrow' tends to do that." Yuffie gave a short huff of frustration, but didn't say anything, returning her gaze to the sky.

"Genesis?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"When you learn how to fly, would you take me with you once?" Yuffie looked back down at him, and Genesis smirked and gave a small bow.

"As you wish."

* * *

Headline: A Familiar Foe

'_Avalanche attacks Junon Reactor!_' was the headline that Tseng showed Rude as they made their way to Veld's office.

"With SOLDIER fighting in Wutai, it's fallen to the Turks to deal with these terrorists. I want everyone moving in pairs and investigating every lead, even if you're not officially on duty." Veld announced as Rufus slipped in, and joined Rude in leaning against the wall. "If anyone has any suggestions on where to start, speak up now."

"I do, sir." Most focus went to Rufus, and Veld raised an eyebrow. "I think there might be a connection to the Gongaga incident, and the disappearance of Dr. Fuhito."

"Wasn't that just a failure in maintenance?" One of the other turks drawled. "Fuhito probably got burned to nothing by mako."

"Then I suppose his lab getting cleaned out was also done by Mako." Rufus took two pictures out of the file. "These are stills from the security cameras- this one before the Reactor melted down, this one after. The labs are designed to lockdown in case of a meltdown, they're better insulated, and as a further precaution, they have a back-up generator- which rebooted the security cameras in the lab." Veld studied the two pictures, one of a slightly cluttered lab, the other of one practically devoid of anything. "It's still not safe to actually go in, but the cameras are remote accessible."

"Alright then, what motive?"

"Money or Revenge, most likely- he's gotten passed over multiple times in favor of Hojo and Hollander, if I get something more definite I'll let you know when I find it." Rufus blanked his expression. "If I find it- did you know you can put in complaints to the company, with no restrictions? Fuhito has sent over 200 hundred in the last year alone."

"You're free to take this lead, report to me when you have more details and proof- Rude, you're with him." Rude nodded. "Anyone else with a lead? Then I'll start handing out assignments."

* * *

Topic: Honor

Angeal sighed as he absently rubbed down his buster sword, having just explained to yet another curious soldier why he hadn't used it in battle. He had gotten away with not using it so far, but something told him he was going to have to sully the blade soon. With another sigh- this time as he stood up and replaced it on his back, he looked at the Wutai samurai that had been captured. He'd been too injured to attempt to take his own life, like some tended to do, but even now that he was partially healed, he had not made the attempt.

"You know, most of the warriors we capture commit suicide, or try to." The Samurai looked at him, with bored disinterest. "Why haven't you?"

"There is more honor to be had in living to fight and kill even more gaijin, than dying so easily."

"Makes sense."

"For one with backwards honor like yourself, I am surprised you understand it."

"Backwards honor?" Angeal blinked.

"I have heard that you are an honorable man, but you insult us by not using your sword in battle against us. You claim that use will bring about rust- it is only by un-use that rust occurs." The samurai explained. "Therefore, your honor is backwards."

"And if I say that I refuse to use this sword because I do not find the war honorable?"

"That has no merit. You have your duty and Honor as SOLDIER as I do mine as Samurai. We must do our duty as honorably as we are able." Angeal shifted. "Your sword is an extension of yourself, if you hold it back in battle, you are holding yourself back, and that dishonors yourself as well as your opponent. 'Wear and Tear', as you put it, are marks of honor on a blade, just as scars are marks of honor on a warrior's body. It is proof of a life well lived. You are not the type to dishonor your sword by using it against those that are unarmed and innocent."

"You sound sure."

"It is a matter of honor and pride . . . Samurai are trained to recognize and respect that in their opponents." The Samurai lay back down on the cot. "If we meet again on the battle field, I would like to try my blade against yours- without holding anything back."

" . . . What's your name?"

"Rai, Hewley-san. My name is Rai." The Samurai disappeared during the night, most likely rescued by a ninja, they figured.

The next battle, Sephiroth arched an eyebrow as Angeal used his Buster Sword, but did not question the sudden change.

* * *

Headline: Reunion

There were many headlines and articles that accompanied this event, almost four years into the war.

'_Ceasefire! Opening Negotiations?_' '_Prisoner Exchange! Loved ones Rescued?_' '_First POW finally rescued after four years!_' and '_Lt. Commander Raphsodos Retrieved!_' were some of the more factual ones. The last two articles shared the same photo- The Silver General and the Honorable Hewley standing on either side of a slightly thinner man, smiling and completely focused on him. In the next conflict, the man would quickly gain a promotion and the name 'the Crimson Commander', but for now he was an unknown, and the public was very curious about the missing friend of their two favorite heroes. (ShinRa was quick to spin a story (titled '_The Lost Hero_'), with slight editing, about how Lt. Commander Raphsodos nobly sacrificed himself to give their negotiation team, including the two current heroes, time to escape back to Midgar. The public ate it up; those that knew the truth were insulted but couldn't change it.)

Angeal had trouble keeping the smile off his face after he heard the news- Sephiroth had captured a fairly highranked noble that was one of Godo's generals, and he had been quick to not send the full report, and get Godo to agree to a prisoner exchange. They had gotten a place and time set, and now they were just waiting.

Not that Angeal cared about that- they were going to get Genesis back! One of his best friends, the man he still kept trying to call in the middle of the night . . . they were going to get him back. He had been starting to think he and Sephiroth would have to attack the Royal Palace itself to get him.

A ninja Courier arrived, an hour before the set time, and deposited a familiar duffle and sword. Sephiroth gave him the Noble's weapons, which he took and quickly vanished back the way he came. (There was a quick check to make sure the General hadn't been rescued or assassinated- which hadn't happened.)

Angeal picked up Rapier, studying his friend's sword in an effort to past the time. It was clean and had been recently polished, the Materia still inside it. Sephiroth quietly checked through the duffle to make sure there was no harmful things in it, but left it alone.

The exchange took place on a bridge, it was slightly cliché, but it was the easiest way to make sure no one went charging at the opposite side and causing trouble. It took ages watching the two men change places on the bridge, and Angeal was already vowing that he wasn't going to let Genesis out of his sight or anywhere near a materia with Confuse, for the rest of their lives.

Genesis, for his part, had been on edge ever since Yuffie cheerfully informed him that Sephiroth had captured a general and was demanding an exchange for him. He didn't know what to expect, and the pictures he'd gotten of his friends had been grainy black and white.

Yuffie hadn't been allowed to come with them to the exchange site, so he had said good bye to the Princess back at the Palace. He still didn't know what to make of her cheerful good-bye, or the 'Let's meet again soon', but it bothered him somewhat.

Once they got to the site, everything happened in a blur that only cleared when he got to the other side of the bridge and got a good look at the two friends he had missed. They were both taller (still taller than him, damn it), with Angeal more muscular and Sephiroth had apparently decided that he didn't need a shirt under the black leather duster (not mention let his hair grow to an almost ridiculous length).

He smirked as he closed the distance between them. "Miss me?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Sephiroth smirked back, moving forward as well. Angeal didn't say anything, just took a couple strides forward and pulled his best friend/brother into a hug.

"You ever do that again, I will kill you."

"Mm, I thought I'd take my chance at being the hero." At that the trio started to smile, and as they turned to walk back, someone snapped a picture.

* * *

Topic: Puppies

"You entered the mentor program, for that."

"I was allowed to pick a student, and this is just a trial. Some seconds and thirds have picked up Cadets to mentor or tutor."

"And you've picked that."

"He's not that bad, Genesis."

"Angeal, he acts like a puppy, a very wriggly, impossible to even teach it to 'sit', puppy." Sephiroth hid his smirk as Angeal pointed out his new student interacting with his peer group. "When did you even decide this?"

"Before we got you back, though I hadn't found an actual candidate then."

"What's his name?"

"Zackary Fair, Age 16, he tested in the top five percent of all his classes, made 3rd class at 15, and is generally well liked by his peers and instructors." Genesis scowled and watched the third class animatedly tell a story.

"You have your work cut out for you."

* * *

**And there we go- none of these segments would become full chapters no matter what I did to my outline, and thus, Interlude. (The only two that might have been able to become chapters were the first one and Headline: Reunion, but they would have still been too short.**

**Let me know what you think of their interactions- especially Angeal and the Samurai (I thought that would be a good way to discuss Angeal's honor issues- however, a reviewer did give me an idea for later . . . :) ) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hmm, nope, still don't have the rights.**

**Nibelheim, Nibel Mountains**

Tifa rested her head on her arms as she stared at her bedroom mirror. She was still a long way from the young woman that joined a eco-terrorist group, but she was starting to see glimpses of her old self in the mirror now.

Perhaps the strangest part of her new/old body was the lack of scar on her back. She had gotten it when the bridge had collapsed the first time, and in some ways had served as a stark reminder to what she owed Cloud, because she had stayed silent when she could have helped him. This go round, they had avoided the bridge, and Cloud was the one that got scarred.

Tifa had twice wished she could make the scar go away, once when she was feeling a little vain and wanted to wear a backless dress; the second time was after Meteor, and Cloud had walked in on her while she was changing (not an uncommon occurrance by that point, traveling in such a large group together had really lowered personal boundaries- it wasn't uncommon for them to fall asleep against each other, either, and she had gotten a picture of Cid and Yuffie, both sound asleep, curled against each other, never mind the two had been arguing minutes prior). He hadn't remembered how she had gotten it, and it had been a large reminder that Cloud still had a way to go for recovery. Now, she sort of wished she had it back. It had been familiar and defining, to a degree, and had been a mark that she had used to measure herself as she grew.

Tifa sat up on her bed and turned away from the mirror, thoughts focusing on what she had to do now. Cloud was in Midgar, by now, Vincent had taken him a few months ago (with plans to check in with Barret after); Cloud's little 'Wolf Pack' had merged back into the rest of the village children for playing, and her training with Zangan was still going strong. She had impressed him with her 'natural' skill and determination to learn, but there was a problem.

Her father. She couldn't remember him being this way before (though that could be because she polished her memories of Nibelheim to the point everything was good), but he seemed really dead set on getting her to stop training. It was starting to get annoying, and he'd already been dropping hints that she would have to learn how to manage a house now that she was 'old enough to take the responsibility'.

'Manage a House' being her father's way of saying 'become a mild-mannered housewife'. Tifa had no interest in being a housewife, she'd been okay with running a bar and taking care of Marlene and Denzel with Cloud's occasional help with getting food on the table, she did not need to learn how to sit and knit/embroider whatever and hold her tongue on the 'off-chance' she might disagree with her future husband. Besides, she already knew most of it, and the only guy in the entire town that she was somewhat interested in was Cloud- he at least knew better than to talk down to her because of her gender.

Hopefully she could keep putting her father off and continue to train- though if her father did manage to run Zangan off, Vincent would be more than adequate as a sparring partner. As long as Sephiroth (or anyone else) didn't burn down the town, the instant she was 17 she was going to be leaving for Midgar, and any betrothal her father could come up with was going to disappear as fast as she could leave.

**Royal Palace, Wutai**

Yuffie slipped towards the council chambers in silence. Despite being recognized as a child genius, her father still thought she wasn't a capable advisor for war tactics. She wasn't a fool, she could tell the war was taking a toll on him, but it was much different from the way she remembered, around this time the last time, her father had already surrendered and ShinRa had been dealing with rebels (mostly ninja) that refused to accept the treaty.

It had taken her a while, but she was pretty sure part of the reason the war had lasted so long was because Genesis had been here with her and not using his materia to wipe out entire troops. Not that Sephiroth and Angel hadn't taken out their share, but both of them were better swordsmen than magic users.

Slipping into her favorite hiding spot, she listened to the council. But as she did, she got a definite sinking feeling. The war was not going well for her people, though it wasn't the crushing victory it had been like last time, they were going to lose. She closed her eyes. As much as she didn't want her people's pride trampled on, she didn't want any more of them to die in a pointless war.

"Start sending out those capable of using Materia, we will not lose to them." Yuffie wanted to yell at her Father that they were already losing, but kept silent. Samurai tactics were getting too many men killed, it would be much better if they switched to more ninja tactics, use their homeland to their advantage.

Leaving the council to continue their prattle on things even less important (seriously, who cared about marriages at a time like this?) Yuffie went up to the roof. She hadn't left Wutai yet, first because she had to be here for Genesis, and now it would be a lot more dangerous to go treasure hunting without some help.

She missed the others- Vincent had only been able to visit twice, and emails, messages and the occasional calls weren't really enough. She'd put so much time in training and re-training that she was pretty sure there wasn't much left for her to do but wait. And she hated waiting. Absently, she typed a message to Tifa- hopefully, the other girl would be able to talk.

**ShinRa Building, Midgar**

In terms of navigation, the ShinRa building was pretty easy to get lost in. The science department was scattered all over the building, as was the weapons department along with Air and Space, the Department of Safety had two floors to itself (not to mentioned shared a couple more with Air and Space), and there were several different areas with different types of holding cells. The only departments that were easy to navigate were SOLDIERS, the Department of Administrative Research, Urban Development and Medical (the last being fairly close to Science).

It hadn't started out that way, but over the years of all the department heads jockeying for position and space, and the occasional need to merge labs and technology for joint projects, the idea of keeping everything related to one department on the same floor, or same group of floors, had just been thrown entirely out the window and forgotten.

All executives had offices on the same floor, just under the president and Vice president offices, but those were rarely used, Hojo preferred being in his lab, as did Scarlett, Veld had an office on the Turk's floor, as did Lazard and Tuesti, Heidegger, despite hating Scarlet on good days, was rarely in his office, preferring to 'check' on her progress, or dealing with the regular army. Palmer was the only one who actually used his top floor office, but then again, it was rare for him to leave it.

The Science Department was the largest department, followed by Weapons. The smallest department, was Urban Development. Surprisingly, it took up an entire floor, but that was mostly because none of the other departments cared about having a floor that was small enough to be forgotten.

Reno privately thought that it was because they didn't realize that Reeve Tuesti was actually running circles around them. The man was a very good ally to have, and his blueprints and schematics had saved several Turks' necks more than once. It was also Reno's opinion that most of Urban Development was somewhat insane. Especially the ones that worked in the building (There were a couple that were out in random areas that Reno personally had no interest in ever going to.)

"I'm telling you, we cannot make the train go any faster than it already does!" He smirked as he caught sight of Dr. Shalua Rui, Urban Development's top researcher. She wasn't half bad looking, she had the whole sexy librarian look going . . . the problem was she had a very good left hook. He angled to see who she was arguing with, but the door to her office blocked whoever it was- and then he realized she was arguing with the phone on her desk. Hoping that no one noticed, he picked up the pace heading to his actual destination.

"Hey, Felicia, how's it hanging?" Reno grinned as he entered the young woman's office, only to receive a very annoyed glare.

"What do you want, Reno?"

"Is Tuesti here? His secretary wasn't picking up and neither is he."

"He had to let her go, budget cut." She didn't sound too sorry about that. "Try knocking on his door, he's probably absorbed in a project and can't hear the phone."

"Thanks, yo." Reno made his way to Tuesti's office, knocked on the door, and promptly pushed the door open. "Director Tuesti, you in here, yo?"

The man in question was sprawled out on the office couch, sleeves rolled up, collar unbuttoned and shoes kicked off, with a blue print of Sector 7 being used as a blanket.

"Well . . ." Reno very quickly took a picture with his PHS and sent it to Rude. (They had a competition of who could get the most pictures of ShinRa employees in various states. This was the first one Reno had found for the 'Sleeping' category.) Then he moved forward to wake up the apparently exhausted director. "Mr. Tuesti, wake up yo." Reno shook the man's shoulder, making him start in confusion.

"Huh?" He blinked at the blue print, then at Reno.

"Rise and shine, yo."

"Reno?" Tuesti continued to blink, as if trying to figure out why Reno had appeared.

"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but Veld's been trying to get a hold of you." Understanding flashed in the other man's eyes, before he tried to find his shoes.

"It's fine, I didn't mean to drop off . . ." Tuesti rubbed his eyes and then rolled up the blue print. "What did he need, did he say?"

"He just wanted you to call him back, yo . . . are you alright?" Reno frowned as the man almost fell during his attempt to stand.

"Yes, yes, just a little tired." Tuesti yawned. "Didn't sleep last night, was working on a new design . . . need a new secretary . . ."

"And you have to call Veld, yo." Reno added as the man muttered to himself, getting his things together.

"That too." The man nodded. Reno tilted his head in curiosity as Tuesti stopped moving, then pulled out his PHS to check something. "Ah, almost forgot that . . ." Tuesti didn't say anything else, but moved to his desk to start typing, apparently forgetting that Reno was there. Which, in Reno's opinion, was really odd, because most people, even those that had worked with the Turks for a long time, rarely took their eyes off them. It wasn't like Tuesti was immune to Turks, either, even though he helped them out. Reno shook his head, deciding not to bother asking why Tuesti was comfortable enough with a random turk to ignore them.

"Right, well I'm going to be going, don't forget to call Veld, alright?" Tuesti nodded.

Reeve sighed as he watched the red-headed Turk leave. For a moment, he thought he was back in the previous timeline. It had been confusing.

Of course, having been here for a few years, he'd have thought he'd have adjusted to the changes, such as having Felicia, once called Elfe, and Shalua Rui working in his department. It hadn't been easy, getting either of them, but he managed to convince them in the end that working to change ShinRa from the inside was best. Of course, with Felicia came the fact that Veld would drop into his department to check up on his 'little' daughter.

They'd gotten Shalua in time to protect her and Shelke, (that had been worse than getting Felicia, Shalua was even more paranoid, if that was possible) and Shelke had spent much of her time playing with the Cait Sith and other robotic toys that Reeve had designed. Very different than the emotionless warrior the girl had been the last time, she was interested in everything mechanical and was going to start an 'internship' working with her sister soon.

Reeve shook his head and smiled at the reminder message on his phone. Cloud was finishing up the 6 week basic training that came prior to fully entering the SOLDIER prep program today. That meant he would have two days off technically starting tomorrow but since the afternoon was free, the two would be able to meet to catch up a little sooner. Vincent had stopped by after dropping Cloud off, (mostly to check in on the Rui sisters) and they had had a few moments to catch up face to face before Vincent had to leave.

Emails and the occasional call had been nice, but Reeve had been surprised by the need to actually talk face to face with his friends. Communicating through screens and electronics had always been his preferred method of dealing with the world, but after everything that had happened . . . well, he supposed needing a physical reminder he wasn't alone was actually quite pleasant, even if it was just Rude taking a cat-nap in his office, or Rufus stopping by with a file.

* * *

Rufus Shinra stared at his desk. There was an open box on it, empty and waiting. A not so subtle hint from his co-workers.

"It won't pack itself, you know." Tseng looked at him in amusement.

"I'm not the Vice President yet, it's not even official for another 3 months. Do I have to move offices now?" He was not stalling, he was just not looking forward to cleaning out his desk.

"You knew you were going to have to leave eventually." Tseng was laughing at him, he could tell. "Besides you have to make room for the new Turk."

"Just think of it this way, Rufus, you're the only Turk that's gotten promoted to a different section." Cissnei smiled at him from across the room where she was cleaning her large shuriken.

"Yes, how fortunate for me." Rufus sighed and reluctantly started emptying his drawers. Tseng and Cissnei left not long after, going in different directions, and Rufus worked in silence for a few minutes.

"I was wondering when you were going to start moving your stuff." Rufus sighed and looked up at the Fedora wearing Turk that had entered the room.

"Hello Kunsel." The fedora was always worn covering the younger man's eyes. Rufus had to give him credit, he'd never seen the other man without his hat, even while in the gym. Most people had given up trying to see him without the hat and accepted it as a quirk that most Turk's developed, like Rude's ear piercings and obsession with shades, Reno's habit of saying 'yo', Cissnei's constant cleaning of her shuriken when bored, and so on.

Of course, then you had people like Reno, who had made it a game with Soldier Fair to see who could grab the hat. So far, neither had managed it, though Fair had gotten pretty close.

"Rufus. Or should I start calling you Vice President?"

"At this point I don't care." Rufus muttered. Kunsel moved to his partne's and his desks. "Who's the new Turk, do you know?"

"A girl, going to be taking over your old codename of 'Shotgun'. She still has family, a younger sister, so her actual name isn't going to be recorded." Kunsel leaned back, adjusting his hat. "Did Cissnei say where she was going?"

"Probably to kill Reno, he put something in her desk again, then made himself scarce." Kunsel nodded, then scowled at the report on his desk before taking out his PHS and dialing. Rufus returned to cleaning out his desk.

The name Kunsel was familiar, but all he knew for sure was the man hadn't been a Turk the last time. It had been something he had been trying to figure out ever since he met Cissnei's partner. Then again, there were a lot of little things that bothered him about the changes they had made- There were two turks that should have been here that weren't, one was in the SOLDIER program, the other was working for Dio; There were members of Avalanche working in Urban Development, and Reeve had managed to keep them on an out of the way floor, instead of half a floor.

Yes, they were supposed to change things, but it still bothered him how many little things they had changed. It made predicting things even more difficult. He glanced at the clock, and gave a soft sigh. Strife and Tuesti were going to meet up soon, and he was hoping to get a chance to talk to Strife soon, otherwise Strife was going to kill him when he found out about what he'd done.

* * *

Cloud slipped through the hallways leading to Reeve's office. Compared to Vincent's (and his) idea of training, most of the past 6 weeks had been almost nothing. He'd made some friends, but no one he could see himself really bonding with, most of the other recruits were from Midgar or Junon and none of them had even heard of Nibelheim.

"You lost, runt?" He blinked and looked at the slightly older-looking teen. A third class with spikey dark hair, shadowed by another third class with black hair pulled back. "Recruits barracks are the other way."

"No." Cloud didn't recognize either of them, but that wasn't saying much. "Got asked to deliver a message to Urban Development." The older teen looked amused.

"Sure you know where that is?" He took a step forward, and Cloud wanted to sigh. Just his luck he'd run into the people that enjoyed hazing the recruits. He'd been doing so well too, no one had commented on his hair or unfortunately strong resemblance to his mother, though his height, or rather, lack of height, had been pointed out almost non-stop.

"Yes." He didn't move back, though Cloud did shift so he could defend himself.

"I've never even been there. You just finished testing?"

"Yes." The one with the pulled back hair shook his head, and he looked faintly amused.

"Brother . . ."

"Relax, I'm not going to attack, I'm just curious." The older teen backed down. "What's your name, runt?"

"Cloud Strife. And you are?"

"Call me Weiss, that's my brother, Nero. We'll see you around, Strife." Cloud managed to nod, and the two went on their way. Cloud continued to walk, keeping his expression blank. In almost no time he was in Reeve's office and telling him who he had just run into.

"You're sure?" Reeve looked at Cloud. It was really disturbing, seeing the man he had followed as a teen- not that Reeve would ever say it aloud, but Cloud at this age was small and fairly delicate looking. Was that why he had gotten passed over the last time? He brought his thoughts back to the present as Cloud started talking again.

"What are the odds that they **aren't** the same Nero and Weiss from Deepground?" Cloud absently leaned back into Reeve's couch. "When did Deepground start? Vincent never said for sure, and I never really asked anyone."

"Not long after Hojo moved to operations to Midgar, I think." Reeve frowned. He hadn't looked into it. Hadn't even thought about it, busy with the inner-company politics and backstabbing. "Dr. Crescent and Professor Valentine's notes were used." They really didn't need this. "I do know that Criminals and Children were used in their experiments, as well as a few dishonorably discharged Soldiers, but the extent of what happened . . ." Reeve sighed. He glanced at his computer, and shifted to hit a button. "Enter."

Rufus strolled in. "Mr. Tuesti, I have a file of yours I forgot to return." He stopped talking as the door closed. "You need a secretary. Or maybe a robot." Reeve gave him a wry smile as he took the file. "Hello, Cloud."

"Rufus." Cloud nodded, then arched an eyebrow as Rufus continued to study him. "Something wrong?"

Rufus hesitated. They weren't friends, by any stretch of the imagination, never would be, but they had reached a sort of status quo where they could get along and work together. There was respect and a small amount of trust between them, but the best they could possibly get was an amicable sort of rivalry. Rufus liked be complicated: playing 'games' with words and getting favors, Cloud preferring to be simple and straightforward.

Unfortunately for Rufus, the only way Cloud was going to listen to him, and this rather problematic idea, was if he was straightforward.

"Cloud, just hear me out before you make any judgements." Cloud shot a glance at Reeve, who shrugged, just as confused. Rufus sat down. "What do you know about my father?"

"Greedy, willing to let Hojo have his way, immoral and very unethical, though I guess he gets points for creating this company from scratch." And that was Cloud being kind, Rufus knew.

"Well, you can add a loose lifestyle to that. Even though he was married to my mother, he still slept around, and had quite a few children with other women. I have an older half brother, Director Lazard Deusericus, and that's the only one I know for sure, though I'm pretty sure my father has made settlements with his other mistresses that might have had children, I don't know any details." Cloud looked at him. "It wouldn't be much of a stretch, for him to have children in places farther away from Midgar." Rufus saw the moment Cloud made the connection.

"I take after my mother, and she knew who my father was." Was the clipped reply. "She isn't the type to sleep around."

"I'm not saying she did." Rufus held up his hands. "I'm just saying, there is . . . a certain resemblance we have to each other, and that you do share with my half-brother."

"Blonde hair and Blue eyes does not mean we're related, Rufus, if we went on that route, Cid and Elena could also be related to you."

"Elena's eyes are slightly more gray, and Highwind's genealogy is nowhere near connected to mine." Rufus waved it off. "And I'm not saying that we are related either, I'm just saying, if you look at it a certain way . . ."

"You want to imply that Cloud is another illegitimate child of the President." Reeve frowned. "Why?"

"To a certain extent, for Security purposes." Seeing that Cloud was still listening, Rufus continued. "Lazard . . . is a much better person than I am, especially in regards to looking after others. He won't do anything, unless asked, but he will keep an eye on those he cares about. If he had another potential brother under his command, the most he would do is keep an eye on his progress. He'd never approach someone with the possibility of being their half-brother unless they approach him first." Rufus took a deep breath. "As Vice President, I'll be much closer to my Father, business wise, and he's paranoid. The President is already unnerved by Lazard and I being on good terms, he sees us working together in an attempt to over throw him a real possibility, so he's trying to keep us separate and me in a place he can control. If I so much as glance at a mission file with you in it, he'd probably be paranoid enough to think you are another child of his that he was unaware of, and jump to the conclusion that we're working together."

"However, if Deusericus has me flagged, no one's going to notice or care?" Cloud asked. "Or does he regularly flag Soldiers?"

"Those with talent that he considers for reaching second and first." Rufus sighed. "We've lost a lot of first class soldiers in Wutai, never mind that class has always been the smallest. As a result, it's become that much more elite. If you're going to reach first class with any sort of speed, there are two ways, one, have one of the 1st class notice you and take you as a student."

"The problem with that is Hewley already has a student, Raphsodos is still on probation after being a Wutai prisoner, and Sephiroth is currently in charge of both SOLDIER and the Regular army, he barely has time for himself, let alone a student." Reeve noted.

"Right, which leaves the second option of impressing Lazard enough for him to promote you." Rufus explained to Cloud. "We need you as a Soldier as soon as possible."

Cloud closed his eyes. His mother had talked to him a little about his biological father, but because they hadn't been married, Cloud hadn't been able to put his name down as a parent. There were similarities between him and Rufus, he knew, the other Reno had once teased him about it (something about them sulking the exact same way, Cloud hadn't paid much attention beyond that, too busy tossing the red-head out of the room). But even imagining President Shinra as a possible biological parent put a bad taste in his mouth. Rufus, he had learned to tolerate, to the extent that he had spent more than a few hours messaging back and forth with the other blonde over different plans during the past few years. Lazard, on the other hand, was an unknown that he had previously only heard about in passing comments from the other Genesis.

Cloud knew he needed to get into SOLDIER and ranked up as quickly as possible, things were going to start happening soon, and quite honestly, the only Soldier he had ever worked well with was Zack. While he and the other Genesis had developed a small comraderie, that had been over fallen comrades and understanding of what it was like to have their minds shaken by the revelation they were experimented on. He knew nothing about how the man had been before, though he would prefer Genesis to Sephiroth.

He didn't hate the silver-haired general as much as he once had, actually, he had gotten to the point of numb indifference, but he doubted he would ever be comfortable around him. Besides, Cid was keeping an eye on the General, and the pilot had much more level head regarding him than Cloud could ever hope to have.

"Alright, I see your point." Cloud finally opened his eyes. "I'm going to take it you already hinted this to Lazard?" Because it would be just like the man to only inform his allies after he had done something.

"It was during your basic training, I was one of the Turks assigned to do background checks." Rufus admitted. "It was a good opening."

"Right . . . and the opportunity for what you're suggesting is?"

"From what I can tell, Father was in Junon for business around the same time your mother and father were there- it's enough of gap that it's not impossible for them to have met." Rufus sighed. "Like I said, Lazard's not going to pursue it beyond keeping an eye on your progress, and no one expects me to do anything but ignore you. Father isn't interested in any of his children unless he can get something, and the Turks won't look into you anymore than I already have." Cloud nodded.

"Speaking of looking into things, what do you know about Deepground?" Reeve took advantage of the lull to change the topic.

"Deepground?" Rufus frowned at the change of topic.

"I ran into Nero and Weiss, they're both 3rd class." Cloud explained.

"I can't say for sure . . . alright if I use your computer?" Rufus asked Reeve, who nodded. Cloud got up to join them. Rufus tapped at the keys for a moment, before frowning. "It says they shut it down, the previous Vice President was the one who recommended it . . . damn." Rufus's curse made Reeve and Cloud exchange looks. "From what I learned from last time, Deepground used G-cells, from Genesis Raphsodos. Hojo wasn't about to use Sephiroth's cells with 'inferior specimens' and out of the other two, Raphsodos talent with materia meant he was more in tune with the lifestream, which they would have used to strengthen the unusual abilities they possessed. Since Raphsodos was captured in the war, and Hewley was considered sub-par for the purpose, they must've shut it down." Rufus exited the screen, absently clearing all traces before pulling back from the computer. "That's why no one's gone after Ms. Rui after the first time. Some of the more stable experiments must have been placed in Soldier . . ." Rufus trailed off with a sigh. "At least that's one less problem to deal with."

* * *

In a small, out of the way and private lab, Hollander went through the data again. He couldn't explain it, couldn't figure out how it had happened, but the G-cells in Raphsodos had mutated almost completely, and seemed to retain mako far longer than Hewley, the only other one in project G. Hollander leaned back in his chair, absently grabbing a candy bar to munch on as he thought it over. His Mako levels were almost on par with Sephiroth, quite a difference from how much had been there before.

The only possibility he could come up with was that someone in Wutai experimented on Raphsodos and did something that not only kept his mako levels up but boosted his ability to retain mako in his cells. The major problem with that was Wutai was not interested in genetic engineering, or anything else they viewed against tradition. Playing with mako was a big DON'T.

Raphsodos had always been much more impressive than Hewley, thankfully, so no one would question Hollander keeping a closer eye on his regained experiment. All Hollander would have to do was keep the truth out of Hojo's hands and let Lazard know that Genesis was cleared to do solo missions again.

Hollander smirked. It drove Hojo nuts that Hollander was allowed, by the President, to keep both Project G specimens out of his grasp and knowledge. And despite his appearance, Hollander wasn't a slob in keeping information hidden. The project files Hojo had access to didn't have a few key details, and the real project files were on a computer that couldn't be accessed by the network (or Hojo).

**Corel**

Barret Wallace woke up to a gentle shake on his shoulder. "You're going to be late for work."

"Mm." He reached up and pulled his wife back down, effectively pinning her in his bear-like arms. "Five more minutes."

He'd almost forgotten that Myrna would be alive in this timeline. It had been so long since her death that, while he hadn't been able to move on, he had started to forget how much he had loved her, focusing on Marlene and finding alternatives to mako.

He had made an utter fool of himself the first time they had met in this timeline (not all that different from how they had met the first time, actually) and had been more than a little nervous going after her again- he had changed, and he didn't know if Myrna could love him again. The fears were unfounded, and he had just recently married (or remarried, depending on who he was talking to) her.

"Barret!" Myrna squeaked. Compared to her husband she was tiny, with tan skin from being in the sun and dark hair and eyes that resembled chocolate. Despite her size, she was more than a match for him in temper and keeping him in-line (a role that had needed Tifa, Marlene and Cid on a good day, and the entirety of AVALANCHE on a bad one), though she wasn't physically very strong. She huffed as his arms loosened slightly. "Barret, if you don't let me go, your breakfast is going to burn!"

"I got my breakfast, right here." Barret kissed her, but reluctantly released her.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Myrna huffed, straightening her clothes as she got back up.

"Got me a date with you, didn't it?" He blocked the pillow she threw at him. "Be there in a minute." He glanced at his PHS, and sighed. Vincent should be showing up today, he'd gotten 'sidetracked' on the way here, which was Vincent for either 'lost in dark thoughts' or 'found something that could help their cause', it depended on the day.

Breakfast was playful, and Barret spent most of the mornings in the mines in a very good mood, ignoring the comments of others that went along the lines of 'should have gotten him married earlier'. Unlike Dyne, who rushed back home to have lunch with his wife, Barret headed to a slightly secluded spot.

"You're late, foo'." Vincent's only response was to jump down from his hiding spot. "Heard Spikey's in Soldier now, hope he knows what he's doing, I ain't going to Midgar unless I have to."

"He knows what he's doing, and Reeve's there to help." Vincent stayed silent for a moment as Barret munched on his sandwich. "You got married?"

"Technically re-married, same woman as before." Barret looked at his still human left-hand, and the thick wedding band on the ring finger. "Suppose I'm a fool, but even if I lose her again, or we end up having to repeat this fool-plan, I just can't stay away and pretend she doesn't exist. Just like I can't pretend that I don't want Marlene to exist." Vincent didn't respond, just stared at him. "Whatcha looking at? You think I'm a fool? I know there might be trouble, later on, but I couldn't stay away and not marry her."

"As long as you know the risks, then." Vincent sighed. It was easy to forget, just by looking at him, that Barret was anything other than a rough and tumble fighter. Vincent steadfastly ignored the small part of him that wondered about rekindling things with Lucrecia.

"Yeah, well, I think you should have actually married the Doc by now." Barret looked at him. "What are you waiting for, anyway?"

"I can't." Vincent sighed. "She needs me as a friend, not a lover, and she's still fragile." Absently, he clenched his fist. He didn't want to have this conversation with anyone, he'd already dodged Cid's attempts. (He missed Nanaki, the feline had never pushed the topic of Lucrecia, and Cloud, who kept Tifa distracted from bringing the topic up.)

"She's got Mama Strife, and even Tifa, to be friends with, Vinny." Vincent spared a moment to damn Barret in his thoughts for making sense. "I don't care much for all that psycho-babble, or being diplomatic, so I'll tell you what I think she needs- to feel like a woman again. You keep treating her like glass, she'll always be glass." Vincent glared at Barret before looking away. "You still love her, don't you?"

"I'm not in love with her."

"Not what I asked, Vincent." Barret studied him for a minute, before dropping the subject with as much grace as he could- namely, not much at all. "Reeve says plans are starting for making a reactor here, I'm gonna have to actually try and talk people into it."

"He told me, he also said that during it's construction the first Avalanche attacked, and ShinRa burned Corel to make sure none of them escaped- never mind the innocent lives that were taken."

"How I lost Myrna the first time, and Marlene ended up with me. I gotta make sure that doesn't happen, Vinny."

" . . . Right now, you can't stop ShinRa from building another reactor here- as much damage as it does, ShinRa doesn't pay much attention to the areas they've placed Reactors in." Vincent crossed his arms. "You can request SOLDIERs, when the time comes, to guard the construction, Reeve's got an alliance with the Director. Or we can get Reeve to convince the board to have Soldiers actively guarding all the reactors, in case Avalanche makes a move."

"Second one might be the better bet, me requesting Soldiers for a backwater town might make them suspicious." Barret nodded, finishing his lunch. "I'll send the message later."

"You've got two paychecks, one from the Cait Sith Croporation, the other from Urban Development, and you still work in the mines."

"Course, I ain't high and mighty, and I got some sense, that money'll go to Myrna and any kids, I ain't going to be idle." Barret huffed and stood. "You need a place for the night?"

"No. I think I'm going to head to Cosmo Canyon next."

"Be careful, Vinny."

"You as well." Vincent watched Barret leave before letting out a sigh. He was worried, though he'd never admit it to the others, Reeve and the others in Midgar had almost seemed . . . complacent about what was happening, about the changes they were making. Rufus Shinra was still a little wary, but Reeve hadn't. The changes were little, and almost insignificant if one thought about it, but he still had Chaos's words hovering in the back of his mind, that some events weren't capable of being completely changed.

The demon had been fairly silent the past few years, more than willing to help, just because of the promise that he'd get to fight Omega without Vincent's interference. That, more than anything, worried him, because the demon wasn't behaving the way he remembered. No, that wasn't right; at this point the previous timeline, he had been sleeping, so had Chaos and the other three.

It was a mystery that concerned Vincent, because even with the materia in his chest, Chaos could still cause trouble if he wasn't careful.

Absently, Vincent tugged out the wedding ring that he carried for the ruse back in Nibelheim. Barret was right, to a point, he still loved Lucrecia, and the past few years of being together had strengthened old feelings that had been starting to fade. He'd gotten closure, the last time, but this time . . . maybe they could actually have something? Maybe he could get a chance to fix an old regret and complete an old dream? It had been several years already, and though Lucrecia still had dark days, she had been steadily getting better.

The problem, though, was that Chaos could still cause trouble if he wasn't careful. Chaos had helped get Lucrecia out, but the demon hadn't forgotten who had been the one to put him in Vincent. And Chaos could carry a grudge, for a very long time. With another sigh, Vincent put away the ring. He couldn't afford to get sidetracked, not when everyone else seemed to be forgetting the danger.

**Cosmo Canyon**

Nanaki frowned, trying to figure out what was happening. The planet had started to stir up again, after so many years of being almost dormant. His grandfather had asked his opinion, but Nanaki hadn't had an answer.

There were several things it could have been, such as Aerith calling on the planet, or Vincent calling on Chaos, but Nanaki privately doubted it.

"Nanaki, do you have any idea of what's happening?" Deneh came up to him.

"Several things, and not all are good." Nanaki flicked his tail and sighed. He really needed a way to contact Aerith, she had been much better at understanding the planet. "Ready for Materia practice?"

* * *

**Phew. Oh, like the changes I've made? How many saw them coming?**

**Okay, I finally figured an angle on Barret- I didn't know he'd been married before, and I needed something to study his character other than Marlene and her parents, when I noticed a line on his bio that I had unknowingly skipped over. Myrna isn't given a description, nor are there any pictures, so I had to make up a description and attitude. **

**No Cid this time, but he'll be in the next chapter.**

**Response to questions: In almost all time travel fics (and more than a couple AU), Cloud almost automatically gets noticed by the firsts/and or Zack. Sometimes he just barely makes it in the door before he gets noticed. I'm going to go a different, and more realistic, route and stay away from that cliché.**

**Yes, Sephiroth and Lucrecia will meet, and it will be pretty soon- I think some of you will like the way I planned it. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Still don't own, do I really have to keep saying this?**

**Side note: Remember how I said this story was going to be in 3 parts? Well, make that 4.**

**Nibelheim, Nibel Mountains**

"I wonder why they really came back." Lucrecia blinked up from her book to look at Mrs. Strife, who was mending a sheet. Both women were taking a break from going through and cataloging the books and notes Vincent had retrieved from the mansion.

"What do you mean?"

"Cloud, Vincent, Tifa and their friends, I was wondering why they really came back in time." Mrs. Strife ran her thumb over the new stitches. "They always talk about changing things, and things that they regret, but they never say exactly why they had to come back."

"It must've been bad, they said people had died."

"Right, but why couldn't they have fought it out there? The events they mention leading up to it, there were a lot of deaths then, but they didn't try to change those. And then to come so far back . . . it doesn't seem right." Mrs. Strife leaned back in her chair. "I never noticed it, before when they told us, but they went out of their way not to tell us what exactly happened. Even now, they only refer to it as 'before' or 'in the other timeline', and stop there."

"They know what it means, and it must have been worse than all the other events." Lucrecia placed the book down. "But you've got a point, they didn't have to come back so far." The two women went silent, trying to puzzle it out.

"I guess we're going to have to wait for them to tell us." Mrs. Strife sighed. "Speaking of waiting, how are you doing?"

"Just fine." Lucrecia sighed, and leaned back. "How long until Vincent gets back, did he say?" Mrs. Strife absently checked the PHS Vincent had gotten for her, so she could get in contact with any of their group in case of an emergency. It had been quite entertaining, messaging with her son's friends, they either called her Mama Strife or Mama Wolf. She wasn't sure exactly when she'd been given the nickname, but she didn't mind it, mostly because Cloud's friends were very entertaining, especially when talking to her about Cloud.

In some ways, it was like suddenly gaining a very large, very crazy, family, and she was very glad to have it.

"Not too long, he's going to go to Cosmo Canyon to meet with Nanaki, and then he might swing by Rocket Town before he comes back." Lucrecia nodded, and Mrs. Strife mentally sighed as she turned back to her sewing.

It had taken her a longer time than she expected to get Lucrecia to open up to her, and when the other woman finally had, Mrs. Strife had felt vaguely horrified. The woman's guilt complex was interfering with her ability to do anything. It was like some days she could only live for the chance to see her son, others she was going through the motions of living because Vincent told her to, or because it was expected of her. The only thing the woman had done that was marginally for her own sake was teach Cloud how to comprehensively read and write.

Mrs. Strife was not a psychologist, but she could tell that Lucrecia needed help, and even though Vincent was trying he was still too close to Lucrecia to actually be effective. So, she had stepped up, first by getting Lucrecia to actually talk to her, and then by slowly working through all the nightmares, fears and issues that cropped up as they got her back to a stable frame of mind.

The biggest issue, however, wore a red cloak and went by the name of Vincent Valentine. Behind all the regret and betrayal (unintentional or not, forgiven or not) Lucrecia still harbored a lot of love for the man. The problem was that Lucrecia didn't think she deserved to love him, and was willing to settle for the friendship that they had created while living together.

And of course, Vincent, being male, was completely oblivious to Lucrecia's conflict, and thought he was doing the noble thing by denying his own feelings to give her time to recover. Of course, as Mr. Wallace kindly confirmed to her, both were quick to deny being 'in love' with the other, not the fact that they loved each other.

If it hadn't been happening in her house, Mrs. Strife would have found it amusing. Like some sort of play. Unfortunately, it was happening in her house, and she had spent more than a couple hours talking to Lucrecia, trying to get the other to admit out loud that she wanted more. And now that her son was gone, hopefully Tifa would be able to actually get a chance to talk to Vincent. She'd like to get this mess sorted out sooner than later, because both of them were over-complicating things.

**ShinRa Building, Midgar**

Lazard gave up on working on the requisition forms (that had to be filed in triplicate, then argued over with Scarlett and Heidegger) and began checking email, noting a short one from Rufus asking about files.

He really didn't know what his younger half-brother was thinking half the time. The fact his brother had been a Turk probably had something to do with it, but Lazard had gained a lot more interesting notes as time had gone on.

Rufus had introduced him to Reeve Tuesti, and it had come as a shock to Lazard that he had a couple things in common with the seemingly soft-spoken Head of Urban Development. Both were interested in improving living conditions both above and below the plate, and both disliked some of ShinRa's shadier policies. Reeve had quickly become and ally (and a friend) providing information that Lazard somewhat suspected of being not completely in Public Domain.

In a strange consequence, Lazard had also begun working more with the Turk director Veld on several different projects that Reeve had been working on, such as emergency evacuation and safe houses/bunkers for both departments when out in the field. Which in turn gave Rufus more reasons to randomly drop by his office.

There were a host of other things like that, random introductions or suggestions of people to talk to that had not only turned out well for Lazard, but left him with the strangest feeling that his brother was setting him up, even as he gave him allies.

So he had been a little surprised when Rufus had subtley notified him of a new Recruit, and more than a little resigned realizing that there were possibly more half-siblings that his biological father apparently didn't keep track of. He wasn't sure why Rufus had made a point of pointing Strife out, but the tiny blond did resemble Rufus, at least in facial features, and had more than blown the rest of the recruits out of the water during bootcamp.

He was young, but talented, almost in the same vein as Zack Fair (who, now that he thought about it, still owed him a report) if a little quieter and more focused. His drill sergeant had praised him, as had a few other officers over seeing the new recruits, and Lazard had made sure to discretely flag Strife's file. The only thing that concerned Lazard was the boy's age, but with Fair having been the same age when he joined, Lazard didn't have a good reason to request that Soldier Ages be raised- especially with the war going on.

**Church, Sector 5 Slums, Midgar**

Aerith giggled as the Cait Sith robot Mr. Tuesti had given her pounced on its own tail and rolled into the flowers.

Meeting Rude had only been the first introduction to the other people that were also special to the planet, though none of them had been Cetra like her. Rufus had been somewhat wary of her, but had promised to keep his Father's attention off her, Cid Highwind had been crabby, having just had a bad date (he'd fallen asleep through a play, he'd explained, for the second time, apparently, and the woman he'd gone with had been insulted) and had regaled her with tales that had made her laugh. Mr. Highwind had also promised to take her flying one day. Reeve Tuesti had come with a PHS with several numbers already programmed in, and the Cait Sith robot, which would help protect her.

The PHS had been like opening the door to another world, and she had been introduced to several others who had been willing to talk to her and share their stories. Aerith had originally tried to convince herself that the dreams that came after talking to each new person had just been a result of an over-active imagination, but it wasn't until she talked with Cloud Strife that she had gotten an actual explanation. The reason the group of people were so special to the planet had been because of time travel, and her dreams were actually residual from the other her that had helped send them back. (He been surprised to hear about her dreams, and that had prompted a flood of concerned messages from the others.)

Aerith smiled as she untangled Cait Sith from a bit of rope that Rude had left behind one visit. She couldn't wait to actually meet the rest of the others face to face, instead of just their pictures on the messages, and she was really happy knowing that there were people out there just waiting to show her the world.

Cloud was supposed to come visit today, She'd met Vincent briefly a while back, but it had been a bit odd to feel such a dark, but still somewhat sleeping power around him.

But even as Aerith met and spoke to the others, there was still someone _missing_. It was frustrating, because she knew that there was still someone else out there that she should be meeting, but she didn't know anything else other than fleeting glimpses in dreams that faded when morning came.

"Something the matter, lass?" Cait Sith waved a paw in her face, distracting her from her thoughts.

"No, it's nothing." The odd little robot nodded, and then started to purr as she rubbed one of his ears.

She'd find out who was missing later, if the others hadn't mentioned it, then it wasn't something they knew about.

**Rocket Town**

Cid glared at the unfinished Rocket, more than a little annoyed. Last time, things had been a whole lot simpler- then again, he'd been pretty single minded about getting the rocket off the ground. He hadn't gotten into any of ShinRa's stupid politics, and life had been just fine. He had flown the occasional mission for ShinRa, in exchange for the idiots that formed ShinRa's higher ups to pretty much ignore what happened in Rocket town. He'd been able to work pretty much unbothered, and no one except Palmer and the President had even cared.

This time, on the other hand, he'd done something really stupid. Cid had actually gotten himself involved with the thrice-damned iditotic and shitty politics of ShinRa.

Though if Palmer had actually had a spine and some self respect, he wouldn't have had to get involved. Actually, if he had focused a little more on the rocket, he wouldn't have gotten involved, and life would be much easier.

The last time, most of the 'Air' part of the Air and Space division had ended up going to Scarlett and Heidegger, with Space staying squarely under Cid's hands. This time, Cid had managed to get most of Air and Space in Rocket Town, including the factories that made the airplanes. (There were a couple in Junon and Midgar, still.) As a result, he was technically more the head of Air and Space then Palmer. Which meant there were a lot more people watching him this time, and as a result the amount of missions he had to fly had increased quite a bit.

On the plus side, he got to keep in contact with Sephiroth without drawing too much suspicion.

What was bothering him the most was the new mission that the President was 'requesting' he fly. Science had new weapons they wanted to be flown to Wutai (yet another wrinkle, the damn war was still going on) and they already had a plane and crew selected.

Cid lit his cigarette before letting out the smoke with a deep sigh. He couldn't refuse the president, not without causing more trouble that they didn't need, but every single instinct he had screamed at him that this was a bad idea to accept the mission. He'd been avoiding anything to do with Science for a while, not wanting to risk running into Hojo, but it didn't look like he was going to get the chance to continue that streak.

"Damnit all." He sent out a message to the rest of the group, letting them know he had a mission (they were all a little paranoid about keeping in touch with the group, especially those who were actually working in ShinRa, they didn't want anyone disappearing) and when he was supposed to be back. Now he just had to get to Junon. He didn't bothering lying to himself that he'd feel better if the plane that had been selected had been anything other the GeInika. The only mildly comforting thing about this mission was that Angeal and his student were going to join them in order to get to Wutai for a mission, and Shinra wouldn't put one of his better soldiers in harm's way.

**Royal Palace, Wutai**

Yuffie resisted the urge to scream in frustration. Her father wasn't listening to her, and now he was making the whole situation even worse.

"Then we are agreed?"

"Yes, you may have any lesser soldiers and ShinRa troopers that are captured, in exchange for help fighting our common enemy." Yuffie kept from glaring as her father shook hands with Fuhito and a couple other high ranked Avalanche members. She hadn't found out about this until just this moment, too busy trying to figure out if it was safe enough for her to slip out of the Palace to see Cid when he got to Wutai, and trying to find a way to get out of Wutai altogether.

She couldn't believe she was thinking this, but it would have been much better if the war had gone the way it had before. It would save her a lot of frustration, especially with her Father's obsessive focus on the war. She needed to get out of Wutai and actually talk face to face with one of the others- as well as get away from Fuhito, because she didn't like the way he smiled, at all.

**Cosmo Canyon**

"Vincent, it's been a while." Nanaki noted, stretching as he listened to the Gunman's reply over the PHS.

"That it has, I'll be there in a couple of days, we should be able to speak more."

"That will be enjoyable, I was wondering if you'd like to come hunting with me and Deneh."

"Who?"

"I keep forgetting that none of you met her the last time- She was sort of in stasis."

" . . . I see."

"Which reminds me, Rufus mentioned that you used to have a partner, who's currently the head of the Turks."

"I'm not going to approach him just yet, we need to keep the changes we make as carefully as possible, and I'm not going to cause him to question his loyalty to ShinRa just yet, last time the Turks almost got destroyed, and we'll need them intact for as long as we can."

"I suppose so, I've just been training and studying, the rest of you seem to be changing things without even trying."

"You'll get your turn soon enough." Nanaki stretched again, as Vincent hung up.

"I hope so, I'm starting to miss the adventures we had."

**Gah, I had to re-edit my outline a bit, and that was a real pain and a half, and as a result, I had to shorten this chapter by quite a bit (sorry about that, but it can't be helped). On the upside, the next two chapters will be much longer, and a bit more action packed.**

**So now, I'm going to have 4 parts to this story, plus Epilogue. Instead of just three parts and no epilogue. Unless something changes, Sephiroth and Lucrecia will be meeting soon, and I'll (hopefully) be posting a couple oneshots later.**

**With that in mind, please, review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This and the next chapter are going to be it for a while . . . School's starting, and I need to focus on that.**

**I still don't own.**

**The GeInika**

Cid absently bit down onto the unlit cigarette in his mouth, wishing he could light the damn thing already. The bad feeling he had about this flight had been steadily increasing ever since they'd gotten off the ground.

The crew that had been picked out was either inexperienced or so terrifyingly bad that Cid had been barking orders and chewing them out ever since he got to the plane. Hewley and his Student had been watching him in silence, though Hewley's student (and damnit, the kid seemed familiar, if Cid could just remember how, it would stop bothering him) had tried to stick up for a terrified female navigator.

"Alright, we're at cruising altitude, if anyone needs to move around, now's the time to do it." Cid growled, before glaring at the instruments. He would have loved to get up to move, but he didn't trust the co-pilot as far as he could reach. (Actually, he didn't trust the co-pilot at all.) The co-pilot all but leapt out of the seat, and it was about a minute later that Hewley came up.

"Is it really necessary to be so harsh?"

"If it keeps them from getting the rest of this group killed, yes. I find out who actually selected this crew, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind- none of them should be flying between continents, or anything longer than an hour." Cid gave him a look. "I'm sure your drill instructors were just as harsh."

"And sometimes they were too harsh." Angeal frowned.

"If this is about me chewing out your student- What's his name, anyway, I don't remember it?- then you're not getting an apology, kid needs to learn when to interfere, and when to just wait."

"His name is Zack, Zack Fair."

"Hmph, That's an ironic last name." Cid glanced away to double check the instruments, and hide the slight widening of his eyes. Now he remembered why the kid was familiar, his picture had been in Hojo's notes, and Cloud had mentioned him several times, Fair had been the person he'd copied when his own memories were MIA.

Hard to picture the bright eyed kid who was doing squats to let off excess energy (and how the hell was he so energetic, anyway?) as the angry and scarred person of Hojo's notes, though.

Hewley shook his head, not following why the pilot suddenly scowled at the unchanged instrument. Something was bothering the pilot- Highwind might swear and insult like a drill sergeant on a good day, but when he was having a bad day it was even worse. (Angeal could still remember Sephiroth asking why Highwind needed to curse so much. Highwind's face had been rather shocked before he growled out his reply.)

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"You're chewing that Cigarette to pulp for one, and you've scared most of your flight crew."

" . . . Just a feeling. But I can't scrap a mission just cause I've got a bad feeling, now, can I?"

"Is that why you went through the checklist three times?" Angeal could understand the paranoia, he had done enough missions to the point where he could tell almost instinctively which ones were going to be bad. Most of the military higher ups as well as the Turks had that 'sixth sense'.

"Yeah, plane's fine, the mission isn't." Before Angeal could comment, there was a shriek- a human, pain and horror-filled bloodcurdling shriek. Angeal was moving out of the cockpit as soon as it started, Zack already reaching for his sword and turning to face the rest of the plane. Several mutated creatures came at them, snarling. In the cockpit, Cid was swearing.

"Zack, use ice, no fire or summons!" Angeal ordered, already, two of the crew were dead. "Don't damage the plane." The first creature that came at him was cut in two. Zack nodded, and cut the head of the second one- and that's when a third suddenly shot sharp spikes at them. It was quickly joined by a forth.

Meanwhile, Cid was issuing orders of his own. "Girl, get over here!" The Navigator obeyed, taking deep breaths. "Get in that goddamn seat and start using the radio, report the ! situation to whoever you get!"

"I've got dead air, sir, Radio's not working."

"Keep trying-!" Four spikes slammed into the cockpit, one sticking in the window, making it hard to see out of, one coming dangerously close to the Navigator's hand, and the other two went in deep to Cid's right shoulder. The Navigator screamed. "Shut up, and take the controls!"

Cid closed his eyes and tried to ignore the burn in his shoulder. Poison, of course, the damn spikes would be poison. This was a set up. Hojo (always synonymous with any Science mission) and quite possibly Palmer (the moron who had signed off on this mission) had set him up for an 'unfortunate' accident. (And maybe it was his paranoia talking, but given ShinRa's history- he doubted it.)

And this Shera thought he was paranoid, always carrying a heal and restore materia everywhere he went. He started casting Esuna.

"Highwind!" Hewley was pulling him out of the seat within seconds.

"I'm injured, not deaf!" Cid snarled as the two spikes shifted in his shoulder thanks to the hurried movement. "You, keep us level, don't bother doing anything fancy, just keep us level." The navigator nodded, face pale.

"Is he okay?" Fair asked where he was standing guard.

"I'll be better when the damn spikes are out." Cid growled. "Any more of those things?"

"Not that we're in a hurry to find out. I'm going to assume those were the weapons science wanted us to deliver." Angeal studied the spikes, and gently gripped one. Despite the pilot's sharp words, the man was pale and going paler. "This is going to hurt."

"You think? Just hurry up." Angeal tugged, but very quickly stopped as he saw one of the spikes that hadn't hit anything laying on the floor. "What's the ! matter?"

"They're barbed, I can't yank them out." The pilot gave him an unimpressed look.

"Right, then trim them down and let me get back to flying."

"In your condition?"

"Not the worse condition I've been in while flying." Partly true, the worst he had ever been had been on their lovely trip around the globe back when Sephiroth and Meteor were the biggest threats. But he hadn't been flying with spikes in his shoulder, just a couple gashes that the others patched up. Cid took a deep breath, trying to focus. "Radio's down, you better call Sephiroth and let them know what happened, Girl, gently start bringing the plane down, push forward on the controls, and watch the altimeter."

Next time, he was just calling in sick, no matter who asked for him to fly.

**Wutai**

Sephiroth watched as the plane landed and practically shut down on the runway without taxing to the side. Medics were already moving to the plane as it opened, and Angeal came out carrying Highwind, Fair helping a young woman.

He met the group at the hospital section as the medics took Highwind to an operating room, and looked at Angeal.

"Shouldn't you be with your student?"

"Need to report in with you first." Angeal glanced at the room they'd taken Highwind. "Someone just tried to kill him."

"I was under the impression it was an accident?" Sephiroth looked at him. Angeal shifted closer.

"I did some checking before we landed, to make sure no other creatures were going to attack. Found this in the spot they were held." Angeal took out a ragged and torn scarf, the same type Highwind usually wore around his neck. "They were aiming for him, we were just in their way- they shot spikes at him, not us."

"Why would anyone attempt to kill Highwind?" Sephiroth took the scarf silently, studying it.

"His charming personality? He was a little harsher than normal, but I can't ask the rest of the crew, as they're dead."

"Highwind's always been like that, no one's tried to kill him before." Sephiroth pointed out. He glanced at the operating room door. "But until we know for sure, one of us needs to stay with him."

"I can't, Zack and I have a mission."

" . . . Genesis should be returning soon from his, I'll let him know." Sephiroth decided. "How long?"

"Couple of days to a week, depending." Angeal sighed. "Be careful."

"You as well." Sephiroth nodded, and watched as Angeal left. Absently, he gripped the scarf a little tighter. Highwind was a fairly popular figure in the air and space circles, was pretty much ShinRa's posterboy for that department, the same way Sephiroth was for the SOLDEIR program. He might not have been the kindest person, he had no problem admitting he had a temper, but Sephiroth honestly couldn't imagine someone trying to kill the Captain.

And whoever had done it hadn't cared if there was collateral damage, the dead crewmembers proved that. It was more than a little unsettling.

Maybe Highwind would have an answer- he usually did.

* * *

Roughly a day and half later, Zack Fair was bored. Well, not exactly bored, more like 'I need to get moving and doing something productive soon'. Missions were not supposed to be like this. (Yes, he was a bit of adrenaline junkie, he liked moving and doing things, even if they only seemed productive to him.) Zack narrowly refrained from getting up and moving. He hated waiting, but there were supposed to be wutai troops in this area, and supposedly, they were more like ninja's than Samurai. He glanced at his current commanding officer, (having been separated from Angeal for some experience without his mentor to watch over him) and tried not to sigh. They were supposed to rendezvous with Angeal's group by tomorrow morning, but at the rate this commander was going, they were going to get there about the afternoon, of the next day.

"Alright, let's move." And for the second time in only a couple days, everything went wrong. While they had been waiting for the all clear, the Wutai forces had managed to surround them, along with people in brown uniforms that Zack couldn't remember being mentioned on the briefing- none of the brownies were Wutai natives. The skirmish that followed was pure havoc (at least this time, he didn't have to worry about damaging a plane and falling out of the sky) and Zack moved to slightly more open ground, away from his team so he could have room to swing his sword. He beat one brown uniform and two wutai before an explosion sent him flying into trees and completely wrecking his sense of balance. (Though, that might have been from his hitting his head, not the actual explosion.)

His vision grayed in and out, with a series of disjointed images, of the people in brown uniforms picking up Soldiers, and Wutai ninjas searching the bodies, before his vision was blocked by huge brown eyes of a kid looking at him in concern. The next thing he knew, everyone else was gone, but the kid who was using a Cura on him.

He didn't think a kid should be on the battlefield, or using materia, especially given that the kid was from wutai. But then again, his brain was still a little scrambled.

"Thanks, kid." The kid just looked at him with a small frown. "Won't you get in trouble for helping me?" The kid just shrugged, and the next moment, Zack realized the kid had cast Sleep- though only because he was halfway there.

When he finally woke, it was to a very concerned Angeal.

* * *

"So, a little kid saved your student with materia?" Genesis looked at Angeal who looked at him in exasperation. After the disastrous mission, Angeal and Zack had returned to base camp, Zack was stuck in an observation room for the next couple of days, or until he completed writing his report of the mission, whichever came first.

"Unless there was an adult that he didn't see, yes." Angeal sighed. "What I don't understand is why they took all of the possible surviving soldiers."

"Except the puppy." Genesis pointed out, and followed Angeal into the room where Cid Highwind had just frightened off a nurse. "Having fun?"

"I'd be better if they stopped bothering me every few hours, how's anyone supposed to rest like that?" Cid crossed his arms. "Can't even smoke."

"You're not supposed to smoke in a hospital." Sephiroth pointed out as he entered. "At least you're not on painkillers anymore." Cid looked at him, then at the other two.

"Alright, what is it?" Sephiroth shut the door and locked it.

"Someone tried to kill you. Any thoughts to who it might be?"

"Yes." Cid glared at them. "And it's not something you need to worry about."

"Someone tried to kill you, and we shouldn't be worried?" Angeal crossed his arms and met Cid's glare full on.

"You're not surprised, were you expecting this?" Sephiroth frowned at Highwind's reaction- both to Angeal's revelation, and to his own question. "You know who it is." Cid's glance away from him was very telling.

"I don't suppose I could convince you three to just drop it?" Cid sighed, already knowing the answer. Genesis loved mysteries, he wouldn't stop searching until he found answers, Angeal didn't like it when friends or allies were in danger and would seek a way to protect them, and Sephiroth . . . well, Sephiroth might let it go for a bit, but inevitably, he'd get pulled back in because Genesis and Angeal would inform him of their findings.

Not to mention, Cid was starting to hate lying to Sephiroth about anything- considering Hojo's lies had been able to send the silver haired kid off his rocker. This Sephiroth wasn't the one that killed Aerith, or tried to destroy the world, this Sephiroth was a kid- and dammit, he was getting way to soft in his old age.

"Not at all, so tell us." Genesis smirked as Highwind leaned back in the bed, defeated.

"It was either Hojo or Palmer and Hojo working together." That was not what they were expecting.

"Okay, Palmer, the fat tub of lard, is a coward and wouldn't have the guts to do it." Genesis pointed out with a smirk.

"But you said Hojo twice- why would he want to kill you?" Sephiroth felt bewildered. Highwind looked at him, as if weighing his reaction, before letting out a huff of air.

"Why not top off the ! week- Sephiroth, remember when I offered you information about your mother, and mentioned the suspicious deaths?" Sephiroth nodded. "Well, I've been doing some more digging since- trying to figure out more so I could tell you, and well, I found out a lot more than was safe."

"Did you find out what happened to my mother?"

"And a couple others involved with you and Hojo." Highwind admitted. "Mainly, Hojo made them disappear when he felt they were going to ruin your 'perfection' or 'purity of the experiment'. Your mother didn't even get a chance to hold you because Hojo thought her emotions would damage your development or some sort of shit like that." Sephiroth blinked, eyes widening.

"And he tried to kill you because you . . . you're my friend?" It didn't take long for the other, logical possibilities to snap in place. "He never wanted me to spend so much time with Angeal or Genesis either . . . if Angeal had died too . . ." Sephiroth was at a loss. What should he even be feeling right then? Hojo had just tried to kill not only Highwind, but Angeal and his student as well- to isolate him?

Angeal's hand rested on his shoulder. "It's alright, we're here, we're not dead."

"He won't try again for a while, at least, and Angeal and Genesis are pretty much safe- he can't kill either of them without causing trouble."

Sephiroth wasn't really listening. "Did he kill my mother too?" he looked at Cid, who met his gaze.

"No . . . but she barely managed to survive."

"She's alive?" Sephiroth watched as Highwind blinked, then swore under his breath as he turned his head away. "Highwind- do you know where she is?" Highwind's shoulder's tensed, confirming Sephiroth's suspicions.

Highwind didn't look at him for a long moment, but before Sephiroth could say anything more, or grab the man to shake the answer out, he pulled out a PHS and dialed a number.

"It's me." Highwind ignored them. "Sephiroth knows his mother's alive and he wants to see her." There was a long pause of Higwind listening to the other side, but none of the Soldiers could hear anything, and then he sighed. "Sooner's damn well better than later, and you damn well know it, I'll see when he can go monster hunting for a couple of days. Probably be by Rocket Town, of course, we've got some migrating monsters, y'know."

"I'll check." Was the only answer before the PHS was closed on the other end.

"What?" Sephiroth was not normally lost for words, but he couldn't really think of the correct action to take.

"I stumbled onto her location on accident, Sephiroth, her bodyguard," he waved the PHS, " made me swear not to reveal her location- if Hojo finds out she's still alive, he'll probably try to kill her." Highwind leaned back. "All three of you are returning right?"

"Yes, we need to swap out with the Junon commanders." While it was easy to forget, there were a handful of other First Class- but they were normally based in Junon, and rarely came to Midgar.

"Alright, then, find a reason to come with me to Rocket Town, we'll see how it goes from there." Cid leaned back. Sephiroth nodded, and left with Angeal, but Genesis remained behind for a moment. "What do you want?"

"There's more to this story, isn't there?"

"It's not mine to tell, brat." Genesis just smirked. "Just shut the ! up, will ya? And get out of here, I'll see you when I get released." Genesis nodded and left while Cid heaved a sigh.

Sooner was better than later, but not by much, and Lucrecia still had bad days . . . there was no telling how bringing the two of them together might go.

But it was time to risk it, before Hojo tried anything else to further isolate Sephiroth from the world and the kid's own humanity.

Several miles away, Yuffie studied her phone as Cid sent out a report. For her, it cinched her decision- no matter what the others might say about it when they found out.

**ShinRa, Midgar**

President Shinra had not gotten to the top by being a fool. He had worked his company from the ground up and intended to leave ShinRa as the greatest power the world had ever seen. Admittedly, he had probably started on a slippery slope just by forming the Turks to take care of opposition before the opposition got to him, and by allowing human experimentation, but it was the only way to move his company forward, and he would continue to do everything in his power to keep the company moving forward.

Unfortunately, with a company like this, that meant there were more than a few enemies and vipers on the inside- necessary evils that he tolerated until they began to threaten him and his company.

Sitting at his large desk, he studied the small collection of photos he usually kept out of the way.

He had humored Rufus by allowing him to work in the company with the Turks, he had been sure that Veld would keep him out of the way and occupied so that he would continue to learn the ropes of the company. Now, he was starting to question the wisdom of that decision, as the boy had found out about Deusericus, and had been spending quite a bit of time with the other. Rufus' independence was beginning to threaten on insubordination and rebellion, and he needed to be brought back in line _now_, before he got some foolish idea in his head and threatened the safety of the company.

President Shinra would do whatever it took to bring his son back into the fold, but should his son prove to be too . . . difficult . . . well, he could always find and mold another heir. Afterall, he wasn't dying till he was good and ready, and finding the Promised Land was just the stepping stone to immortality.

With practiced eased, he put the pictures of his wife and son away as the intercom buzzed.

"Rufus Shinra is here to see you sir."

"Send him in." The president kept his head down, focused on his paperwork, using his peripheral vision to watch his son enter. Still in the uniform of the Turks, his son stayed standing, waiting. "Have you finished moving in to your new office?"

"Yes sir." His son didn't move. Well, at least Veld taught him some discipline. President Shinra looked up to meet his son's eyes.

"Then I want you to turn in that suit and begin to work through the budget proposals, you and I will meet once a day to go over your duty to this company, and I have already arranged your escort for the gala that will be held to celebrate your promotion to the Vice Presidency. Your secretary has the information regarding your fittings for the gala. Any questions?"

"No sir, I understand."

"Then you are dismissed for now."

Rufus waited until he was in the elevator going to his apartments to breathe. That had been more disturbing than he had thought it would be. He'd half expected to have his father give him the third degree on his friendship with his half brother, or work with the Turks. He'd managed to keep his father at an arm's distance, occasionally using Veld and Tseng as impromptu shields against his father's unwelcome attention- it gave him a chance to do much more.

Last time, his father hadn't paid this much attention to what he was doing or who he was with- it seemed his choice to become a Turk had only brought his father's attention to focus more on him- and by extension, Lazard. This was yet another for the list of 'things that keep going wrong' though not as blatantly troublesome as the fact that Hojo had started gunning for Highwind, with Palmer's help. His thoughts were derailed temporarily by the elevator's chime, and he focused on his surrpundings until he got into his apartment.

The simplest thing would be to get rid of Palmer- the man had been a drain on resources for a while- and promote Highwind to being the official Head of Department, he was already halfway there already, and Highwind had always been popular, even if he was vulgar and had the temperament of a Bahamut. Palmer, on the other hand, was 'just a tub of lard taking up space', to quote Scarlet. Grant it, Highwind probably wouldn't like it, but if they did it right, not only would his father agree, he would act as if it was his idea, and that would put Highwind out of Hojo's reach- for a while, at least. Rufus made his way to his closet, already working on the message he'd send to Strife to discuss the best way to get Highwind to listen to the idea without getting turned into a blue torch, and debating about asking Tuesti for help as well.

This time, though, his thoughts were temporarily placed on hold, as he stared at the very familiar white suit. He had bought it weeks ago, more out of just a passing frivolity, than actually planning on wearing it (it was definitely _not_ bought out of sentimentality).

It was just a suit, one he had worn the last time out of an attempt at teenage rebellion (it was supposed to have been a black suit and tie gala for the Company's anniversary ball, and he had purposefully chosen white to spite his father's instructions . . . ironically, his father hadn't even noticed, too busy flirting with women and getting drunk) and had become his signature style, one that he had continued to keep even as things became rough.

He'd encountered Strife for the first time wearing that suit, had made his bid for the presidency and had the tower come crashing down around him.

It was just a suit, it shouldn't be this hard to just dismiss it and wear something that wasn't a Turk suit. Rufus stared at it, unmoving for a long moment. Just a suit, that had been originally bought for rebellion.

Well, he was planning a revolution, and the two were technically synonymous . . .

A few short moments later, he was double checking that the extra ammo hidden in the legs of his white suit weren't noticeable, even as he fastened his cuffs and absently felt the weight of his hidden shotgun. He'd have to look into getting that upgraded at some point. He quickly gelled back his hair to complete the look (he'd forgotten how much he'd disliked gel until that moment, but it was necessary to complete the look), and wasn't too surprised to see Rude waiting outside his apartment. They didn't speak until they got to the elevator.

"Good to have you back, President." Rude muttered as he hit the button for the correct floor.

"Good to be back, Rude. How's Strife?"

"He's been assigned to Professor Rayleigh for the initial Mako series." Rude stood back.

"You know something I don't?" All he could remember was that Rayleigh had 'disappeared' the last time, with some evidence pointing to her being placed in Deepground- of course, it was possible she'd just been removed by Hojo. It had caused a minor stir in the labs, because one of her projects had blown up without her there to watch it.

"She's not like Hojo, Hollander, or any of their men." Rufus looked at him. "Strife saved her life, the last time. He was a trooper on her security detail, managed to take down a Raven, and made Shotgun more than a little off-kilter for a bit."

"Does Strife-"

"He doesn't remember, unless one of the others gave him the mission report." Rufus reached out and stopped the elevator between floors.

" . . . You're telling me that un-enhanced, Strife was able to take down a Raven last time." How had this not come up when he asked Tseng about Strife's record, back when Strife was with Avalanche? "How did he not get into Soldier last time? And why wasn't I told about this?"

"Tseng . . . respected Zack Fair a lot. He never said anything, but it . . . bothered him, that he had to let Hojo take both Fair and Strife." Rude shifted, slightly unnerved at saying anything against the Tseng they had both known. "Even after, he was still hesitant about doing anything against Strife, because he had Fair's sword. Apparently, that meant something important to him."

Rufus really couldn't believe this, but then again, it wasn't the first time Tseng had slightly compromised himself- the fact Aerith was free of Hojo's labs was one glaringly obvious point.

"How do you know this?"

"Reno bothered Shotgun for weeks about getting shown up by a trooper. And she was . . . a bit bothered by something Strife said, though she never told or reported what it was."

"I see. Anything else I didn't know about?" He couldn't really imagine the Shotgun he had known (both this time and the last) being unsettled by anything, passionate, yes, given how excited she'd been about the Rocket, but unsettled . . .

"I'll let you know if I remember anything else." Rufus restarted the elevator, and absently thought.

He hadn't known Fair at all, the last time- he'd been in Junon for most of Fair's career, and had returned only after Fair, Strife and Sephiroth had gone missing in Nibelheim. He couldn't quite see how the overly-enthusiastic Soldier had gained Tseng's respect, and enough of it that Tseng actually felt some remorse at not helping the Soldier, but it would be interesting to see if that respect re-occurred.

In the meantime, he was going to see what changes he could make as Vice President.

**Corel**

Barret let his head fall into his hands. Things were not going well- no, that wasn't quite right, they were just going much differently than they had the first time.

_Dyne_ was all for allowing the reactor to be placed in the town. There were several pockets of contention about the idea, Eleanor had been especially unsure about the benefits of having a reactor. (Myrna hadn't really cared either way.)

Barret didn't know why, but it bothered him, the way Dyne was acting. Things hadn't changed that much, for his friend to have done a complete turn about on his distrust of ShinRa. It had taken weeks the first time, to get Dyne to agree.

Something was up- he didn't know what, but there was something off about all this . . .

Then it hit him. Myrna wasn't sick. She wasn't coughing to the point of being breathless. She'd gotten sick about a year before the Reactor was put in last time, but she wasn't sick yet.

How had that happened? Barret was absolutely clueless, but decided to not continue questioning their good luck. The only thing he was going to worry about, was the danger the reactor presented to the town.

**Cosmo Canyon**

The planet was stirring again. Nanaki wrapped his tail around himself as he stared at the night sky. He was starting to get anxious as well.

There was a very real possibility that one of the Weapons was going to wake up- or at least, that was the sense he got. Unlike Aerith, who was capable of conversing with the planet, Nanaki was capable of only impressions.

And the impression he was getting was a WEAPON was stirring- though which one was hard to tell.

He was mildly upset that Vincent had needed to change direction and head to Rocket Town, but had understood the urgency- Sephiroth and Lucrecia had to meet soon, and hopefully before Hojo managed to take out Cid.

Cloud was still out of touch- Recruits weren't able to keep PHS on them, and it would be much safer for Reeve to simply hold onto Cloud's phone until their leader was allowed to carry it without suspicion.

Nanaki watched as Deneh made her way over. There was another slightly disturbing concern- Deneh was more than a little frustrated with being told to wait, and it was starting to worry him.

**No notes this time, other than please review!**

**No, wait, I lied- Aerith.**

**A couple of you pointed out that it was 'odd' that Cloud or any of the others told her outright about the time travel, and when I looked back over the chapter, I realized my error. I'll be editing chapter 7 in a bit, but basically, what happened was that Aerith told Cloud about her dreams, and Cloud told her about the time travel when he realized the dreams were about the 'original' future. Somehow, that all got scrambled up when I was writing, though it made sense in my head- I'll try and fix it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 and the end of part 2. Next chapter will be another interlude, and then we'll get into part 3, which will have longer chapters and a lot more of the changes. Good news, I will be posting on weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday's) but I can't guarantee that it will be every week.**

**On a side note, this chapter length is not my norm, and should not be expected in the future- People just kept talking, and things just kept happening, and I couldn't find a good cut off point, so a couple scenes might seem to have an abrupt end- I didn't really have much of a choice.**

**Rocket Town**

Vincent quietly slipped inside Cid's House, not missing the fact that the lock had been rather unskillfully jimmied open. It didn't take long to see that someone had been there- probably just after Cid had left to fly the GeInika, and had taken one of Cid's spare scarves. Some files had been gone through, as well as some journals (Cid kept everything in it's place, as most pilots were trained to do, so it was easy to tell when something had gone missing or been moved.) That ruled out the Turks- unless it was a really green rookie, no Turk would have made such mistakes.

Which meant that either Hojo had his own team working for him, or one of Cid's own men had turned on him. Vincent scowled at the mess. The last thing they needed was Cid to get killed, or to mysteriously disappear into a lab- they'd like to keep the amount of people that had been trapped in Hojo's lab at 3, even if it was 3 too many.

Cid needed new locks, and Vincent was definitely making sure that Reeve was the one that made them and installed them- Scarlet's stuff would be too easy for Hojo to get past. At least no one had tampered with the Tiny Bronco.

* * *

Sephiroth shook his head as Zack pouted at Genesis. It was rather like watching that viral video sent by a certain bored red-headed turk last week- the one with a puppy trying desperately to get a cat to play with it, only for the cat to hiss and bat it with its paws.

Needless to say, the flight from Wutai had been interesting, with Angeal keeping the peace between the two. Not that Zack seemed to notice the insults Genesis was tossing at him.

"Who are we meeting, exactly?" Sephiroth looked at Cid, who was leading the way to his house.

"A friend- you'll have to leave the Pup with me, but he doesn't mind Angeal and Genesis going with you." Cid absently scowled at the lock on his door before opening it.

"That tells us absolutely nothing." Genesis griped. Angeal just pulled Zack into the house so he could shut the door.

"You need new locks." All four soldiers whirled to face the new threat, though only Genesis pulled his sword (Masamune and the Buster were not meant for fighting in enclosed spaces). The first thing the soldiers noticed were the man's glowing red eyes, hidden by the messy dark hair that wasn't held back at all by the red bandana.

"! You." Cid moved forward. "Tea?" The stranger just nodded, and looked at the group of Soldiers. "Introduce yourselves while we eat, and put that can opener away!" Genesis glared at Cid, but complied. The stranger followed Cid into the kitchen, and slightly reluctantly the others followed.

"Is it just me, or does the guy resemble a vampire?" Zack asked.

"Zack!" Angeal frowned at him.

"It's not just you, Puppy." Genesis muttered.

"What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?"

"You only have four seats." The Stranger reminded Cid, who rolled his eyes.

"Right, tea will be ready in a minute, Pup, you're coming with me." Zack shot a confused glance at Angeal, who simply gave a short nod. "Trust me Pup, this is going to be boring." Zack followed Cid out, obviously confused, leaving the three First Class with the Stranger.

"Who are you, anyway?" Genesis decided to break the ice as quick as possible.

"Currently, Vincent Hart, Monster Hunter, is the alias I've been using. My name is Vincent Valentine, a former Turk for ShinRa- and Lucrecia Crescent's bodyguard." Vincent crossed his arms, and all three noticed his left arm was slightly misshapen.

"I didn't think there was such a thing as a 'former Turk'." Sephiroth frowned.

"It's a long story." Vincent replied. "You wish to meet with Lucrecia?"

"Yes." Sephiroth met the other's gaze evenly. "Will you take me there?"

"What about you two?"

"If it's not too inconvient, we would like to go as well." Angeal spoke before Genesis could.

"It's not. We'll leave tonight. Sundown. Officially, you'll be coming with me because of a few rogue dragons. That'll take a couple days, a week at the most." Vincent studied them. "Cid and your student will stay here, and make sure that story gets around."

* * *

"Why couldn't we have stayed?" Zack asked as he followed Highwind into a private hangar.

"Tiny Bronco, she's a beauty isn't she?" Cid gestured to the aircraft.

"I guess, but why-?" Zack had just met the man, though he knew about him from some of Angeal's stories. There was really no reason for the two of them to talk, even if he was staying with the pilot for an unknown period of time.

"Pup, how much do you really know about ShinRa- and I'm not just talking about the soldier program and what's printed in the papers."

" . . . Not a whole lot, why?" Zack tilted his head as Cid sighed something uncomplimentary about idealists.

"To put it simply? It's a den of vipers, with everyone looking out for their own interests. I'm sure you've noticed the competition between departments?" Zack nodded, not interrupting with an argument even though he wanted to. Highwind insulted everyone, afterall. "A lot of people are willing to do anything to get what they want- even kill for it." A tiny connection briefly flashed in his mind, Genesis and Angeal talking about guarding the Pilot.

"Does this have anything to do with why Angeal and them have been shadowing you since the attack?" Cid actually laughed.

"Don't miss much, do ya?"

Zack frowned. Yes, he could be over-enthusiatic at times, but he wasn't an idiot. He could put one and one together. It got a little frustrating that no one seemed to look past his cheerful attitude, but he normally just ignored the criticism.

"Anyway, Pup, those three are going to find out just how dark ShinRa can get. I'll be giving you the summary while they're gone, but I want you to promise me something first."

"What?" Zack tilted his head.

"Promise me you'll not only look out for them, but also you'll never give up on them even if they try to push you away." Not what Zack had expected, but . . . Highwind wasn't joking.

"I promise, I'll do my best to look out for them and keep them from pushing me away." Highwind smiled.

"Alright then, now, enough serious shit for today, What do you know about machines?"

By the time Angeal came to check on his student, both were covered in oil and grease as Cid showed him how an old steam engine worked.

**Nibel Mountains (3 days Later)**

"How many monsters are there in this place!" Genesis flicked snow covered hair out of his eyes as he finished off yet another monster. Vincent had told them there would be monsters, but he hadn't imagined that there would be this many. "You can't go a step without encountering a Dragon, Sonic Speed, TwinBrain, Kyuvildon- and whatever the heck that was, I didn't recognize it."

"There are actually fewer than normal." The gunman noted, and ignored the trio's surprised stares.

"And my mother lives near this place?" Sephiroth asked.

"We should be able to see the town soon." Vincent continued moving forward, almost single minded about the path- the man was quieter than Sephiroth on a bad day.

"I really cannot believe people live in these mountains." Genesis muttered. "Who founds a town in the middle of a bunch of mountains and surrounded by monsters and dragons?"

"How do the villager's manage?" Angeal asked Vincent.

"The monsters are all located towards the tops of the mountains, it's only the wolves, bats and dorky faces that come anywhere close to the village, and only if their normal prey is scarce. But no one leaves the village at night, it's too dangerous." The four men walked in silence for a moment, before Angeal stopped and frowned.

"You said it's too dangerous for people to be outside at night?"

"Yes."

"Then why is that person out on the trails?" Vincent paused, and looked to where Angeal gestured. Even with enhanced sight, it was hard to see the figure, but Vincent recognized the way it moved and quickly stopped Angeal from going after her.

"It's alright, they don't need help."

"You just said-"

"There are exceptions to every rule, and that's one of them." Vincent lead the way to the house on the outskirts of town as the snow began to fall thicker, and quickly entered through the back door.

"Oh, good, you made it." The petite blonde woman that greeted them had a couple of towels. "It's going to be a bad storm tonight, so we won't have to worry about tracks."

"This is Mrs. Strife, the owner of this house, she's helped us create a cover here in town, and knows pretty much everything. Mrs. Strife, this is Angeal Hewley, Genesis Raphsodos, and Sephiroth."

"Pleasure to meet you, you can hang up your coats and take off your boots here, I have spare shirts if you need them, and- Vincent, did you wreck another glove?" The trio watched in amusement (and some growing impatience on Sephiroth's part, though he didn't voice it) as the former turk and current monster hunter all but shied away from the petite woman's attention. "I'll mend it later, in the meantime, Sephiroth, I imagine you'd like to meet Lucrecia."

"Yes." Sephiroth nodded. He'd changed out of the wet leather duster and had taken one of the spare shirts that Mrs. Strife had offered. He might be the best soldier, and could put up with a lot of discomfort, but it was foolish to do so when there was another option, (that, and wet leather wasn't the most comfortable thing).

"Then Vincent, if you would show the other two to the living room, I'll be there in a moment with some hot cider." She passed him the towels and then smiled at Sephiroth. "Come with me, please." She lead him down the hallway, and Sephiroth felt his apprehension rising. "Did Vincent tell you about Lucrecia's . . . condition, at all?"

"No, he didn't tell us much of anything." Condition? Was Lucrecia sick?

"Well, she's paralyzed from the waist down." Paralyzed? Sephiroth blinked down at her. "We don't know why, and we can't take her to any specialists. She's also been a bit sickly, thought that part of it's from being in a coma for almost 15 years."

"I see, is that why . . ."

"She hasn't come for you? Yes." They reached a door, which Mrs. Strife knocked on. "Lucrecia? Are you awake?" Mrs. Strife opened the door at a soft affirmative, and Sephiroth blinked as she put a hand on his arm. "Be careful, she's still fragile." She murmured softly. He nodded and went inside.

The small sitting room had the curtains drawn and was illuminated by a few bright lights. The woman that turned to look at him from a chair next to a pile of books was pale and worn, with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Mother . . ." The words he wanted to say stopped in his throat.

"Sephiroth . . . my son . . . You've grown up to be quite handsome, I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it." Her hands were shaking, and Sephiroth noticed that her eyes were bright because of tears.

He had absolutely no knowledge on how to proceed in this situation, just behaviors he had observed from watching others . . . yet he found himself moving across the floor so he could kneel next to the chair and wrapping his arms around her. His mother's arms wrapped around him an instant later, and he closed his eyes, listening to her heartbeat.

"My beautiful baby."

"I've missed you, mother." They stayed like that for a long moment, and Sephiroth was reluctant to pull away- he had dreamed for years of being held by his mother when the pain of the needles and being alone had gotten to be too much, and he was reluctant to move . . . but now that he had found her, he had a lot of questions that he wanted answered. He compromised by pulling back enough so he could look at her. "What happened? Why-?" _weren't you there when I needed you?_ Was the question he wanted to ask, along with, _did hojo really try to kill you?_ And _why were you in a coma? _But once again the words failed to make it out.

"Yes, I suppose you deserve some answers . . ." She gave him a sad smile, "shall we join the others in the living room? It's a long story, and not a very pleasant one. I think you'll need your friends." She wiped away a few tears. Sephiroth nodded, and gently picked her up.

They entered in time to hear Genesis say "_For you are beloved by the goddess, hero of the dawn, healer of worlds_." To an amused Mrs. Strife who'd just given him some hot cider. The red head was already curled up in a blanket.

"Loveless, Act 1, correct?" Mrs. Strife gave Angeal a cup as well, nodded when the dark haired soldier thanked her.

"You know the play?"

"I've seen it a couple times." Mrs. Strife looked up at them, and gestured to a vacant chair for Sephiroth to place Lucrecia. "I'm reheating some stew for you lot- field rations are not acceptable meals, it should be done soon."

"Thank you." Mrs. Strife moved into the kitchen, and Sephiroth settled on the couch, as close to Lucrecia as he could get.

"Now, I think it's time you three got some answers, though, it's not a pleasant story." Lucrecia took a deep breath, and Vincent came up behind her. "About 20 years ago, I was a scientist working at ShinRa, I'd just gotten my doctorate, and my main field of research was the lifestream and how it related to the Planet. The science division uncovered what we at the time believed to be the remains of an ancient. Professor Gast brought it to Nibelheim for further study, and I, along with Professor Hojo and Hollander were part of the team that studied it. We called the fossil Jenova." Sephiroth shifted, recognizing the name.

"As Lucrecia was the only one in her field, and one of the first female doctors on ShinRa's payroll, I was assigned to her as a bodyguard. There was some discontent at the thought of a young female doctor being placed on such a high clearance study." Vincent took over briefly, as Lucrecia absently tightened her hands.

"Hojo approached me during a lull in the study and while Vincent was on a mission, and began flirting with me. I was flattered by the attention, and then he proposed." She shook her head. "I was on the rebound from a previous relationship that had fallen apart pretty badly, so instead of actually listening to my intuition, I thought through his offer with logic. Hojo was established in his field, and was, financially secure. Overall, any relationship with him was not likely to hurt me, and well, I thought he was safer than any of the other offers I'd received, so I accepted. It wasn't long before I became pregnant, and Hojo talked me into using J-cells from Jenova on the child to try and recreate the ancients.

"I had my misgivings, but a previous project- Project G done by Hollander- with the same goal had been successful, and there had been no ill effects to the mothers or the children, so I agreed, assuming that he wouldn't hurt me or the child." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I was wrong- I began to get ill, and suffered from almost constant nightmares that kept becoming worse. Hojo kept assuring me that it was alright, and I kept believing him, despite becoming more and more frightened as time went on. Midway through the pregnancy, I suffered the worst nightmare, and went to Vincent for help because Hojo wasn't listening to me."

Vincent once again picked up the story while Lucrecia paused trying to regain her composure. "I went to Hojo, and the conversation quickly became heated when I realized he was actually enjoying listening to her nightmares and was treating the whole thing, even her life, as data for the experiment. I threatened to pull the plug on him, and he shot me at point blank range." Vincent sighed, absently crossing his arms. "I wasn't expecting it, not thinking him a threat; though even at that range, he missed killing me outright. I'm not sure what happened after I lost consciousness, I remember I woke up in a mako tank at one point, but most of my memories of that time are . . . incomplete."

Lucrecia then picked up the story again. "I was told Vincent had been reassigned, and not too long later my condition continued to worsen. Giving birth was difficult, and it took me over a month to recover. During that time, I kept asking to see my son, but Hojo and the staff told me I would have to wait until I was healthy again, they didn't want me making the baby ill. I didn't make a fuss then, I could barely stay awake, but once I recovered Hojo still kept refusing. I finally figured that the best way to see my son was to work with Hojo and convince him that way that I was healthy enough to see my son.

"That's when I found out what really happened to Vincent. Hojo was experimenting on him- but the results had placed him into a coma, and Hojo was growing bored." She shook her head. "I think that was when I realized that Hojo was much more dangerous than anyone else could have imagined. I was terrified when I read through the notes on what he had done to Vincent, and realized that he was doing something similar to my baby, using the title of Project S . . . I wanted to get us all out, but I had to get Vincent awake, first, so I used my own research on him . . . unfortunately, I soon discovered that Vincent wasn't going to be able to help, so I staged his death- programming the computer to show his vitals failing, and acting like I was trying to revive him. It worked, but Hojo placed him in a locked storage room, planning on coming back eventually to study his body. I left information for Vincent to find, to explain what I had done to him.

"After that, I tried to break into the lab and get Sephiroth, but I was starting to get ill again . . . I failed, and had to run." Lucrecia finished, closing her eyes again. "I'm not sure of everything that happened after, given how ill I was and my fragile state of mind, but I ended up in stasis in a mako crystal." She took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry . . ." The last part was half a whisper, and half a sob.

Sephiroth had listened to the story, withholding judgment until he had heard everything. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, but . . . he wasn't angry at her for leaving him. He had tried to escape the labs several times on his own to go exploring, but hadn't gotten very far before he was caught- he could only imagine trying to get in was just as difficult. Wordlessly, he moved closer and took her hand.

"You tried, that's all I ever hoped for." You couldn't always save the ones you wanted to, Highwind had taught him that, when he was frustrated at the loss of life of the men under his command. His mother had tried to save both Vincent and himself, she hadn't abandoned them because she wanted to, and that was all Sephiroth had ever wanted to hear.

"How did you get out to find her?" Angeal asked Vincent, not paying attention to Genesis' silence. The story was almost fantastic, but the two in front of them weren't lying. And Angeal hadn't missed the way Lucrecia kept almost collapsing in on herself, as if she was waiting for a blow, or the mix of hope and disbelief on her face when Sephiroth had pretty much forgiven her. There were just a couple points he wanted to get cleared up. "And Neither of you appear to have aged, if this happened almost 20 years ago."

"For the second, it's a . . . side effect, for me because of what Hojo did, and for Lucrecia because of her imprisonment in mako. We're not sure how it worked, either, we haven't looked into it. As for the first, you saw the large abandoned mansion when we came in." Vincent watched as Angeal nodded. "That's where I was kept- it's abandoned, now, and sort of the resident haunted house. Two children decided to explore it and found me, one of them was Mrs. Strife's son. She allowed me to stay in her home, and initially I tried to keep her out of it until I found out Lucrecia could have been still alive. We brought both of them into our confidence, and she's been able to work the rumor mill to our advantage."

"And my amusement." Mrs. Strife added from the doorway. "Dinner's ready." Her focus turned to Genesis, who was silent and staring at Lucrecia. That's when everyone noticed that the dramatic first was silent and still.

"Project G was by Hollander . . ." Genesis said softly. "Project S was named for Sephiroth . . . was I-?" The words lodged in his throat. G for Genesis, Genesis means Original, Hollander always did his and Angeal's shots, had always come once a month when they were growing up . . .

"I don't know much, but I do know that Project G was much different than what Hojo did to me. The cells they used were the result of mutation of a normal woman's cells in the presence of Jenova cells. They used the cells of that woman, named them G cells after her, as well as the project, and injected them into a poor young woman who volunteered for the money. Not too long later, the woman, Gillian, conceived her own child, who received the G-cells naturally from her." Lucrecia looked at the two of them. "So, yes, Genesis, you and Angeal were a part of project G." A door slammed, and minutes later, Genesis also disappeared.

"I thought you weren't going to tell them?"

"He asked." Lucrecia looked down. "I wasn't going to lie." Sephiroth had kept hold of her hand, even as he stood to go after his friends.

"Sephiroth, stay with Lucrecia, I'll go after Hewley." Vincent sighed, noting the fact that the dark haired first's boots were gone, but his sword had been left behind.

"Genesis-"

"I'll take care of him." Mrs. Strife assured him. "He didn't leave the house. You two talk, there's some stew for you to eat."

* * *

Angeal hadn't actually been thinking when he had left the room- he had just felt the need to run and get out of there. He didn't know what he was actually feeling, betrayal or anger, but he wished he wasn't feeling.

He stopped running only when he tripped over a branch that the snow had obscured. Stunned back into reality, he heard a growl, and Vincent's warning about going out at night flashed through his mind as something big and large (he agreed with Genesis, the monsters in this part of the world were unnaturally plentiful and strong) came at him.

Angeal swore, trying to get on his feet, (no materia and no sword, what had he been thinking) then froze at the gunshot and the flash of red that got between him and the- whatever. The creature snarled and swatted Vincent, as Angeal got to his feet and the only available cover (a tree)- and then froze as _Vincent changed_. The creature that replaced Vincent still had his red cape, but wore it more like a skirt, and was much bigger than the gunman. Within moments, the monster that had been Vincent won, and, while Angeal tried to figure out what had just happened, turned back into Vincent, who absently began healing himself.

"Are you alright?" Vincent walked over once he was done.

"What . . . what was that?" Angeal finally managed.

"One of the results of Hojo's experiments on me." Vincent just leaned back against a tree. "You forgot your sword."

"I shouldn't wield it." Angeal muttered. "I'm . . ."

"What? A monster? I am more of a monster than you." Vincent moved forward, gripping Angeal's arm with a gold claw that had been hidden by a black glove, making him look up in shock "An Experiment? Sephiroth has a greater claim, as does Genesis. You weren't planned to be one, anyway." Vincent studied him. "Why are you upset?"

" . . . I just . . . My mother . . ." Angeal had felt a flash of irritation at the question, but couldn't put voice to his confused myriad of emotions.

"Neither Lucrecia or I know much about Gillian Hewley. We can't give you her reasons for agreeing to Hollander's plan." Vincent let him go. "However, she can." Angeal didn't speak for a minute, and Vincent frowned. "Do you intend to run? That won't help anything or anyone."

"Why shouldn't I? ShinRa's corrupt, and I might not have been planned, but I still became a experiment." Angeal retorted.

"And what would happen to Zackary Fair?" Angeal paused.

"What?"

"You run, Sephiroth and Genesis are high ranking enough to refuse to give chase. Fair, on the other hand, isn't. Standard protocol, send someone who knows the person after them." Vincent held his gaze. "If they don't, they might cause an 'accident' for him, he's more expendable than Genesis and Sephiroth, and if they think there's a chance that he's helping you, or that he'd work as bait, they'll do it, the worst case being that he just ends up in a lab." Angeal flinched. "You can't protect him, or the other two, if you run."

" . . ." The man was right, Angeal reluctantly realized. Running wasn't going to solve anything. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to." The gunman turned and began to walk back to the house.

* * *

When Genesis had run from the room, he hadn't had much thought past 'leave the room'. Growing up, he had always favored dark hiding places, usually carrying a flashlight so he could read a book, where he could stay for hours with no one finding him (if anyone actually looked). After his time in Wutai, that had changed slightly to places that were high.

It wasn't his house, but he needed a place to hide and think.

The room he found had two swords on the far wall, and a small collection of photos on the wall by the bed. Curious (and trying to put off thinking about what he had just learned for another moment) he studied the photos. He recognized the three adults he'd just met, along with a young boy that resembled Mrs. Strife strongly- in one picture, the boy was wielding a sword that was bigger than he was, in another, the boy, slightly older was smiling up at the camera with a dark-haired girl.

"My son." Genesis started, turning to face Mrs. Strife. "Joined SOLDIER a few months ago. Hard to talk with him sometimes, because of the distance."

"He looks like you."

"That he does." She smiled. "But I think there's something else you need to talk about right now."

" . . . I'm fine." He wasn't, he just wanted to escape, to run . . . to fly.

"Nice try, I'm not buying it."

"What do you want me to say?" She studied him for a moment, then sighed.

"You don't have to tell me anything, Genesis, just don't lie."

"I . . . don't know, I just . . ." _Want to fly, now, I want to fly away._ He felt the familiar pull of magic, but in the next moment, all he could feel was pain in his back and heard the soft tear of fabric. He fell to the ground hard, barely registering Mrs. Strife's look of shock, and the feel of something _right but still wrongwrongwrong_ about his back. He could only stare in shock when he saw the big black wing, slightly bloody, raised up above him.

Genesis looked for Mrs. Strife but she was gone, and all his thoughts revolved around the fact that normal people didn't have wings and how the heck did this even happen?

"Genesis, I need you to take off your shirt." He blinked, Mrs. Strife was back, with a towel. "Genesis, you're bleeding, and I need to put pressure on it so you don't keep bleeding out."

"Wing." Was all that he could say, and Mrs. Strife's face blurred. Next thing he knew, she hugging him.

"Shh. I've got you." It took Genesis a moment to realize he was crying. "I've got you, just let it out, child." Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around her, and buried his face in the crook of her neck as tears turned into sobs. He wasn't even aware of his wing also wrapping around the two of them.

Mrs. Strife mentally added Hollander to the list of people she was going to feed to the wolves alive (literally, Nibel Wolves could turn into man-eaters if prey was scarce enough, or they got dunked in mako from the reactor). She also realized the floor wasn't the best place for Genesis at the moment, but couldn't lift him.

At least Vincent had added an extra day in the travel time, there was no way Genesis could return with a wing sticking out of his back.

* * *

Sephiroth was at the door when Angeal and Vincent returned, looking fairly relieved. "You're back."

"Sorry, I wasn't . . . I wasn't expecting that." They entered the kitchen where Lucrecia was sitting. "I'm sorry." He apologized to Lucrecia as well, but she just shook her head.

"I should be the one to apologize, I hadn't planned on telling you that, but you both needed to know."

"Yeah . . . where's Genesis?" Angeal frowned, realizing his friend wasn't in the room, then almost kicked himself when he realized _why_. His friend was in the same boat as him, afterall, and he'd run off without thinking.

"Upstairs, Mrs. Strife went after him." Sephiroth explained.

"I'd better go help her." And apologize for running. Vincent lead the way upstairs, then froze on the landing before rushing to a door. Angeal followed, and both men froze in the doorway.

"Oh, good, you're here, I need to get him on the bed, I think he's going into shock, but he won't let go." Mrs. Strife looked up from where she was awkwardly holding a towel to Genesis' back, as well as gently running her free hand through the red hair.

"What happened?" Angeal managed as he entered the room. His friend had a _wing_. Mrs. Strife was acting oddly calm, despite being held onto like a lifeline, and partially covered by a wing.

"I don't know. You better get Lucrecia up here, and I think it's safe to say that you won't be leaving in the morning, either." Vincent nodded and left, while Angeal moved to help his friend onto the bed. "Careful, and mind his wing." They got him onto his side so the wing wasn't crushed. Sephiroth entered behind Vincent and Lucrecia, though his expression stayed blank for a long moment.

"What's happened to him?"

"I have no idea." Lucrecia admitted, frowning as she gently touched where wing met flesh. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Lucrecia . . . use this." Vincent passed her a sense materia. She looked at him in confusion, but obeyed . . . and her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Sephiroth asked from where he was standing behind Angeal.

"The wing . . . the sense materia is picking it up as if it was materia- a 'fly' materia, in particular."

"There's no such thing." Angeal frowned.

"Look for yourself." Lucrecia passed them the Sense, and then held up one feather to the light. "Other than that, I have no answers for you . . . at least, not until I do some research." She put her hand down. "Best we can do, is keep him warm, Cures and Restores don't really work on shock, unfortunately."

Genesis listened to the conversation as if it was happening far away. He could start speaking if he wanted to, he just didn't want to, not right then.

"Well, don't keep crowding the poor dear. The bed can't take that much weight." Mrs. Strife returned, though he hadn't been aware of her leaving again. Then someone was touching his wing, gently.

"What are you doing?"

"His wing's a mess, see, there are some broken feathers, and it would be a bad idea to let the blood dry in them as well. Genesis, if it's alright, I'm going to start cleaning your wing." Genesis didn't react, but he did wonder if the woman was crazy- none of this situation was normal, and acting like it certainly didn't help him.

Except, it kind of did, because Sephiroth and Vincent were talking about travel plans, Angeal and Lucrecia were talking about how it was possible for there to be materia they never discovered, and Mrs. Strife was acting like he had just gotten hurt fighting a monster, not turned into one. (Humans didn't have wings, so what else could he be?) For a moment, he felt . . . normal, and safe. He drifted off to sleep.

* * *

When he woke the next morning, Genesis lay in bed, staring at the window. He could smell something baking, and voices downstairs. He almost convinced himself that his growing a wing had been a very strange dream- except when he shifted, he felt the new appendage shift as well.

"It wasn't a dream."

"Do you often dream you have wings?" Angeal came over, and sat down next to his best friend. Genesis looked at the wing for a moment, watching it flex. "Genesis, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you alone."

"Yes . . . what's going on?"

"Dr. Crescent and Vincent haven't exactly been idle since they've gotten out of their prisons- they've been going through all the project notes they can find, and searching for the notes that have gotten scattered. They primarily focused on Hojo's stuff, but they've got notes from Gast and Hollander as well. They're going through them right now, trying to figure out what happened." Angeal explained. Genesis nodded, and looked at the wing. "The current theory is that the wing is a physical manifestion of a materia's power, but what that means, I don't know."

"And, Sephiroth?"

"He's with his mother, helping her. Vincent left about an hour ago to do something. Mrs. Strife wants to know if you're hungry, she can bring you something to eat."

" . . . She wasn't scared of me, was she?" She hadn't run away from him, she had run to get a towel cause he was hurt.

"No, I think she thought the wing was adorable, for some reason." Angeal looked at the wing. "It does kind of suit you." It creeped him out, to tell the truth, but Angeal had sworn not to run away, and right now, Genesis didn't need his friend to avoid him. And the wing did fit Genesis, in a weird sort of way.

"Why do I only have one?" Genesis frowned. "I don't actually want another one, but shouldn't there be two?" Angeal shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe Dr. Crescent does." Angeal stood, and held out his hand. "Let's go see." Genesis hesitated, and Angeal frowned. "Genesis?"

It was stupid and childish, but . . . he had to ask. "We're friends, right? No matter what happens?" _Even if we become monsters, you'll still be here, right?_ Angeal blinked at him, and Genesis felt his wing start to fold around, as if to hide him. They'd been apart for several years, and they hadn't really had time to reconnect, and there had been some clear changes from the people they had been before.

Angeal hesitated a second, before gently hugging his best friend, mindful of the wing. "Always. We're always going to be friends." Genesis didn't hide his relief at actually hearing the words. "We'll figure this out together." Angeal pulled back, and then had to steady Genesis as the wing caused him to overbalance.

* * *

"I was starting to think I was going to have to send Sephiroth after you two." Mrs. Strife smiled as they finally made it to the kitchen. "Don't worry about anyone coming to visit, there was at least 4 feet of snow, and a couple trees definitely fell."

"Won't someone come to check on you?" Angeal frowned.

"You're both from a small town, I'm sure you remember the way small towns function."

"Generally, they work together." Angeal frowned, and frowned as Mrs. Strife shook her head.

"I never married." Genesis winced, remembering his foster parents opinions of women who never married. Small towns could be absolutely brutal to those that didn't try to fit in and follow their belief of how the world should be run. A woman with a child and no ring on her finger was worth weeks of gossip and rumors. Vincent was, as he put it, a wandering monster hunter, not a stable predictable job that most of those in small towns preferred, and Lucrecia was sickly . . . The only concern the people would have would be gossip.

A blessing for them, because that meant no one was going to bother them unless they did something to get noticed.

"Now, you'll want to join Lucrecia and Sephiroth in the study, Vincent's gone to get some lab equipment- if you'll let her study your wing of course- for Lucrecia to use." Mrs. Strife moved on. "We'll work on figuring away to hide it after that."

"Yes, because it's possible to hide a big black wing." Genesis muttered.

"It's not black."

"Huh?" The two men looked at her, and she sighed.

"Look." She took a feather from a small pile she had collected, and held it up to the light. "If you look at it in light, it's actually a dark red. It's a pretty color." Genesis took the feather to look, and had to admit she was right.

* * *

On his way to the Mansion to get the equipment Lucrecia requested, Vincent stopped and sighed. "You know, you shouldn't be on the trails at night, especially in a storm." Tifa just shrugged as she came out from behind a tree in a thin winter coat and slightly loose jeans, and began to walk with him.

"I need to get the gil somehow." She looked at him. "How'd it go last night?"

"Better than I expected, but Genesis sprouted a wing."

"He had one the previous time."

"You got to meet him?" Vincent hadn't, he'd just gotten information from Cloud about the Crimson Commander.

" . . . In Nibelheim, before Sephiroth burned it, it was just for a moment. Then later, before, I was looking for Cloud, found him instead. We got a chance to talk- had a few things in common, being the children of Mayors for our respective towns. It was just that once." She closed her eyes. "It was just before everything . . . began to change." Very quickly, both of them pushed away the memories that accompanied that thought.

"Why do you need gil?"

"I'm running away next year, either to Junon or Costa, before my Father chooses a husband for me." Tifa smiled. "I'll be a barmaid and bouncer again, I'll be in a perfect place to hear gossip, and I won't feel like I'm in a cage."

"Not Midgar?"

"Oh, I'll get there eventually, but we've got plenty of people there, so I figured I'd go somewhere we didn't. And I want to get more of a tan." Vincent gave a small huff of a laugh.

"Just do it when I'm not here, so I don't get accused of kidnapping you."

"Fair enough, need any help?"

**Rocket Town (Approx. 3 days Later)**

Cid shook his head as Zack flopped onto the couch. Physically, he might be back in his twenties again, but mentally, he felt old.

Putting up with Zack Fair, the human puppy, for a week hadn't helped much. Kid reminded him of Yuffie.

"When are they getting back?" Especially when the kid whined.

"Soon- or they could've just let themselves in, Damnit Vincent, stop doing that!" Cid glared at the four men in his kitchen.

"You gave me a key." Vincent pointed out, somewhat amused. Cid just swore at him, before sighing and looking at the trio.

"Fun trip?"

"Too many monsters." Genesis muttered. There was a soft thud, and Cid rolled his eyes.

"Trip again, puppy?"

"No, fell off the couch." Zack attempted to glare at the pilot, but failed.

"Anyway, your ride back to ShinRa is here, and you probably shouldn't keep him waiting." Cid watched as Sephiroth nodded, and stood.

"What about you?" The General asked, not having forgotten Hojo's attempt on the other man's life.

"I'm safe in this town, and Vinny here will be sticking around for a bit, anyway." Cid easily ignored Vincent's look. "You lot just worry about yourselves."

"Hmph." Genesis absently stretched his shoulder, and the soldier's filed out of the house, saying goodbye in their own ways, before Zack launched into a commentary about the people he'd met and what he'd been doing.

Once they were gone, Cid looked at Vincent. "We've got a problem."

"What?" Vincent looked up. In answer, a very young, very familiar face glanced at him from around the corner. "Yuffie?"

"I found her not long after you left. Had my hands full keeping the Pup from discovering her." Cid explained, and Yuffie offered a sheepish smile.

"Miss me?"

"You're supposed to be in Wutai." Vincent pointed out, ignoring Cid's grumbling.

"Yeah, about that . . ." Yuffie fidgeted under his look. "I couldn't stay, okay? I tried to get my old man to kick Fuhito out or stop trusting him, but all I succeeded in doing is getting me put in a stupid 'safe house' with a bunch of useless guards and tutors." She scowled slightly. "He's not letting me anywhere near the war planning or the council anymore, and well, I figured I could be doing something else, like hunting for Materia."

"You're eight-"

"Nine."

"And you're a princess, you're not supposed to be out of Wutai."

"We're supposed to be changing things, not doing what we were 'supposed to be doing' the last time." Yuffie challenged, drawing up to her less than impressive full height. "I know what I'm doing, and I've been doing nothing but training. I took care of myself last time, I can do it again."

"Where were you planning on going?" Vincent kept from sighing, Cid had no such restraint and was muttering under his breath.

"Cosmo Canyon, it's far enough out of the way and ShinRa doesn't really have an actual presence there. I'll pretend to be a war orphan or something. I can hang out with Nanaki without too much worry, and can get some experience."

Vincent sighed. "I'm not really surprised by this, Tifa's making plans to leave Nibelheim next year."

"I've got a more important thought, what happens if Cloud gets sent to Wutai and captured?" Cid demanded.

"Rufus'll send someone to his rescue, or call us."

"Uh-huh, and Cloud gets a chance to experience torture at the hands of another creepy scientist in the meantime." Yuffie winced, then glared.

"Don't you dare guilt trip me about this. I wouldn't be able to help or set him loose anyway, I'm forbidden from doing anything except stay in the safe location and pretend nothing's happening. Cloud wouldn't hold that against me!" She put both hands on her (still) none existent hips and held his eyes.

"I'll take you to Cosmo Canyon, I take it you've got your weapons and material?" Vincent stood, glancing out the small crack in the shutters.

"Yeah, but only the heal and restore are leveled." Cid muttered curses, but didn't stop them.

**ShinRa, Midgar**

Professor Rayleigh studied the lab report. It was a little odd, but Strife, the way too young soldier (in her opinion) was adapting to the initial Mako booster series like a duck to water. No, it was different than that, he seemed to absorb mako quickly, quicker than most normal people, and with very little side effects.

Then again, he came from one of the old Reactor towns, and it was possible the entire town was somewhat tainted with low levels of mako. She really needed to find some time, and funding, to check it out, it could be a great help with her research. She knocked before entering the room where the person in question was waiting.

"Well Mr. Strife, it looks like you're all set." The boy glanced up, and she gave him a small smile, the same thought she had the first time she met those eyes coming back up- it was really unfair for a guy to have eyes as pretty as his (even without mako shine, they'd been gorgeous), she knew women who would kill to have eyes like those. "You'll be coming in once every two weeks for the next three months, after that you'll progress to just once a month." Though, he might manage that quicker, if she had his projected progress right.

"Thank you, Ma'am." Cloud nodded, and followed her out, more than a little relieved to get out of this section of the building.

He had considered not joining Soldier at all, and becoming a monster hunter like Vincent. They had even discussed having Lucrecia use Hojo's notes and research and have her enhance him, without the use of Jenova cells. In the end though, Lucrecia's hands always gave her away; they would shake when the topic came up, and it was clear that she couldn't do a procedure like that, on anyone. Not after what happened. So they hadn't pushed her any further, and Cloud went to Midgar.

He'd made it into Soldier, had survived the first round of mako, and now . . . well, he had two possibilities. Either A) He was going to be assigned to Midgar for monster patrols for six months, or B) he was going to be shipped over to Wutai for the same amount of time.

To tell the truth, he was hoping to stay in Midgar, but the others could only interfere with his career so much before someone, most likely Tseng, got suspicious.

It wasn't like he'd have much of a problem, fighting in Wutai- he'd only met a handful of people that he could claim he'd liked enough to protect, and they wouldn't be on the battlefield. He still had a part of him that still functioned like a mercenary he once was, it wouldn't be too hard to slip back into that role in order to fight.

* * *

**Phew. Like I said, people kept talking, things kept happening, and then Yuffie decided to leave Wutai on me, so I had to re-edit part of my outline. (again, I swear this story keeps mutating on me)**

**So, next chapter will be another interlude, and then we'll get into Part 3, where a lot of stuff happens and we get to see several more characters reactions to the ways things change.**

**Sorry for the lack of Nanaki and Barret, but thanks to all the editing I've done to my outline, their work has more effect in the next part than this one.**


	10. Chapter 10 Interlude 2

**Here is another interlude, once again because this stuff wouldn't fit into the actual chapters. Some of these will eventually have oneshots to accompany them.**

**I still don't own the rights, this is me having fun. (Except when it comes to that stupid auto correct- Materia keeps turning into Material and Spell check doesn't get it, and then if I'm not careful, Mako becomes Make.)**

**Reminder:**

"Voice over a PHS/PA."

**Title: Reports and Rapports **

_Report: Trouble in the Slums (or, Why You Should Always Carry an Umbrella)_

Life above the plate was pretty safe and monster free. Life in the slums, on the other hand, had a lot more risks- monsters that wandered in from the wasteland, monsters that escaped ShinRa's labs and bred in the sewers, and monsters in human form that had no trouble taking a defenseless person and beating them to a pulp. The last was usually the most dangerous.

There were patrols of Troopers and Soldiers that kept the monster population down, along with help from the Turks and Civilians that could use a weapon or materia. Normally, it worked.

Normally. Just like Zack Fair normally carried his sword, but it had gotten loped in half during training yesterday, and would take a couple days to repair.

Zack had been exploring the slums, mostly to take advantage of the underground bartering system (he had managed to get a phoenix feather a few days ago, and was hoping to add to his stock pile of potions, or get a summon, whichever), when the first monster charged at him.

He dove out of the way, somewhere nearby the screams started, and started searching for the best makeshift weapon he could find. He found one in an old large umbrella that was once used in an outdoor cafe to keep the sun off diners. It was so dirty it was impossible to tell what color it might have been. "Alright come and get it!"

The monsters went down fairly easy (would have been easier if he had a sword), however it was after the fifth monster (and why the heck was no one down here yet?) that he managed to overbalance, one leg slipping, forcing him to hit the ground.

"Look out!" The sixth monster that was about to pounce on him suddenly got jabbed in the eye by a green umbrella. Zack got back to his feet, and he and the wielder of the green umbrella beat the sixth monster.

"Thanks, I owe you one." Zack turned a smile on his rescuer, and blinked in surprise as he met brilliant green eyes set in a very pretty face. For some reason, he found himself a little, breathless.

"You're welcome." She smiled back. For a moment, the two just stared at each other, trying to think of something to say. And then the two realized they were still holding the umbrellas.

"Great minds think alike, huh?" Zack gestured to the two makeshift weapons, and the girl giggled. "I'm Zack, Zack Fair."

"Aerith, Aerith Gainsborough." She absently tucked her umbrella under her arm. "I thought Soldier's used swords?"

"They do when it's not their day off. But an umbrella makes a nice casual weapon, don't ya think?" Zack raised his in a semi 'heroic' pose, earning another giggle from Aerith. Already liking this girl, and not having anything else to do, Zack quickly came up with an idea to stick around. "So, Aerith, since you did save my life and it's my day off, would you like to hang out together?" Okay, _that_ had not been what he wanted to say. "I mean, if you're not busy, or if you are, I could act as a bodyguard- err." He'd been flirting with girls ever since he'd been little (his parents had a couple embarrassing stories about that) and now all that experience apparently had deserted him. He blamed it on the monsters, there must have been some sort of confused effect.

Aerith laughed. "I'd love to." She wasn't sure why, but something felt . . . right about this guy. She'd think about it later. "My Mother sent me out for groceries, if you wouldn't mind helping me?"

"Not at all." And the two started walking and making small talk.

* * *

_Rapport: A Mother's Love._

With the war, it wasn't often that Angeal got vacation time. If he did, it was usually spent close to Midgar, with Genesis and Sephiroth (and now occasionally with Zack).

However, given the revelations he had just recently received, he really needed to go home to talk to his mother.

"Angeal, you didn't tell me you were coming home." Gillian smiled up at her son, and Angeal forced himself to relax.

"I wasn't planning on it, but I realized it had been a long time." Since his father's funeral, actually, even though he wrote her almost continuosly. The two proceeded to talk about things both in the town, and about what he could tell her about what he was doing in ShinRa, when Gillian finally put her cup down.

"Angeal, what's wrong?" Angeal stiffened, before sighing.

"I . . . found out some disturbing information . . . about Project G." He watched in mild fascination as the color drained out of her face. He didn't know if he wanted her to tell the truth or lie to him.

"How did you, you weren't . . ."

"It's true then?" She looked away and nodded. "Why?" She didn't answer, and Angeal got up and moved so she couldn't look away from him. "Mom, please, tell me, I have a right to know."

"I hoped you wouldn't find out, but I suppose I have to." She closed her eyes. "I was working for ShinRa as a secretary and somewhere along the way became Hollander's Assistant. He wanted to see the effects of the J-cells on humans, and I volunteered." She sighed. "With the tests on me successful, he copied the process on a few others, volunteer soldiers I think, but using my changed cells. Then he came with the idea to try it on an unborn child. I didn't object, I didn't see the need. The volunteer was a young woman who didn't have enough money to raise the child she was going to have. I'm not sure what happened to her, but Hollander put the child with a foster family."

"Genesis." She just nodded, still not looking at him.

"I wasn't supposed to be able to have children. I'd known it for years, because I'd been in an accident . . . I'd never really given it much thought, except for occasionally wishing I could have my own." She sighed. "It was a shock, to discover that one of the side-effects of the cells had been to fix pre-existing damage, and that on top of that, I was going to have you, my own little angel. Hollander was fascinated of course, but I was able to get him to agree to monitor both you and Genesis as you grew up, not keep either of you as experiments. So I settled down here, to not only raise you but keep an eye on Genesis."

" . . ." Angeal didn't speak for a moment, catching on a small phrase he would've overlooked if he hadn't been so focused on figuring out what his mother was telling him, as well as the noted lack of his father. "You married after you had me." She winced. "Mother, I'm going to find out the truth, either because Genesis comes across information or because I come across it, I'd rather hear it from you."

"Does it matter? Your father was the one who raised you. We both loved you." This time she met his eyes. "Angeal, please, just let the past lie, I don't want to talk about it." Angeal felt a little guilty, pressing for information like this, but he needed to know- he needed to know so he could protect himself and the others. But . . . he couldn't keep pushing, either.

"I know, and I'm not so sure I want to hear it, either . . . but no matter what, you're still my mother." Very gently he wrapped her in a hug. "I love you, that hasn't changed, it never will. Just like Father with always be my father and the man I will always look up to." He felt her relax. "I'm sorry for pressing, but, well, we've come up with some disturbing use of misinformation lately, and when Genesis figured out what Project G was . . ."

"You needed to talk to me and find out if it was real." Gillian closed her eyes. She couldn't blame him, she really couldn't. She was just glad he didn't hate her.

"That and I needed a break from Genesis quoting _Loveless_, and Zack the human puppy." Angeal tactfully began steering away from the previous topic.

"Zack, that's your student . . . why are you calling him a human puppy?" Gillian frowned. This was the first she heard of the nickname.

"He acts like one, right down to puppy eyes when he pouts." Angeal smiled. "Trust me, you'd love him."

* * *

_Report: Memory of the Future_

"I thought you were going to Corel." Cloud glanced to the side as Vincent joined him. It was his day off, and he'd wanted to get some stuff done, as well as get some extra gil so he could buy a decent sword.

"I thought I should drop off this first." Vincent held out the Rune Blade. "You can have your own weapon now, correct?"

"Yes." Cloud reached to take it, before noticing that Vincent hadn't released his hold. "Vincent?"

"Apologies, I was just . . . thinking." For a moment, Vincent had gotten the impression of his friend before they had come back in time- he was still a little shorter than he would be, of course, but he still had time to grow- but looking at Cloud now, Vincent felt a strange certainty. "We're almost there."

Cloud nodded, then sighed as he put the blade on his back. "I'm being shipped to Wutai, a new offensive. I won't be able to contact anyone."

"Will you be alright?" Cloud closed his eyes. From anyone else, it was a simple question. From Vincent, it meant '_will you be able to handle it?_' and '_Do you want me to follow?_'. He'd fallen apart once, everyone really didn't want him to slip back into depression.

"I'll be fine. Just . . . be able to pick up when I call."

* * *

_Rapport: Best Friends, No Matter What._

"Do you always have to quote loveless before we spar?" Sephiroth didn't hide the smile as he looked at Genesis, turning his back on the view of Junon. "You have the book memorized, and pretty soon, so will I with all the quoting you do."

"Everyone has a hobby." Genesis put the book away. "Angeal, you better use the Buster this time."

"Alright, alright." Angeal smiled, and lifted the large and heavy blade. "No holding back, then?"

"Have we ever?" The trio rushed at each other, and started what was pretty much a game of tag. Sparks flew as swords collided and slashed, each one trying to outdo each other (well, more like Genesis and Sephiroth were trying to outdo each other, Angeal was just keeping pace).

Of course, the problem with trying to outdo each other, was getting carried away. Genesis wasn't even thinking, and he absently called on the newly discovered wing to get at Sephiroth from above.

He did not expect Angeal to slam him down and into the ground. "Genesis, put it away!" He quickly obeyed, and noticed that Sephiroth had already burned several feathers. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't." Genesis absently rubbed his shoulder. "I just . . . reacted."

"We're alright, I shorted out the recording equipment." Sephiroth walked over as the hologram faded away, revealing a very damaged room. "Not like they can tell, anyway, we could pretend it's just a limit break." Genesis ducked his head.

"I wasn't thinking." Angeal just gave an exasperated sigh.

"We're not mad at you Genesis, we'd just prefer it if you didn't end up trapped in a lab." Angeal helped his friend up. "Maintenance is going to kill us." He noted a minute later.

"Deusericus is going to kill us first." Sephiroth corrected. "We probably should have taken this outside . . ."

"Now you mention it." Genesis smirked, then rolled his shoulder. "Shall we make ourselves scarce?" Sephiroth shook his head as he followed them, quickly sending a message that the training room needed repairs.

Not that Lazard didn't call them out on it, but still . . .

* * *

_Report: Comrades and Treasure_

"You know, some days I find it hard to believe that you ever made it into adulthood." Nanaki started conversationally, looking down at Yuffie who had managed to get stuck on a cliff face while trying to get to a random chest some poor traveler had managed to drop. The nine (almost ten!) year old treasure hunter just glared at him.

"It's not my fault the rope broke!" She huffed. Nanaki just lay down so he could continue to watch. "Besides, if I die I'm going to haunt you all from the lifestream."

"A very frightening thought." Nanaki mock shuddered, tail swishing. "Do you need any assistance? Or should I bring the evening meal here?"

"I need a better rope." Yuffie sighed. "I can't wait until my calluses build back up- it's gonna horrify my ladies in waiting of course, but then climbing won't be such a hassle." Nanaki nodded, and untangled the remainder of the rope, lowering one end while keeping the other in his mouth. Yuffie sighed as she finally made it back to sturdier rock. For a moment, she just lay there. "Hey, Red, why doesn't Deneh like me?"

"What gave you that impression?" Nanaki smiled a little at the old nickname. Hojo had used it to make him a tool, but his friends made it a term of endearment.

"She just . . . I dunno, I think she's upset that I spend so much time with you." Nanaki shifted so he was lying right next to his friend.

"Mm, She's been, acting strange this past year, but I am afraid I don't quite know her mind." Nanaki sighed. "Let's get you back to the town." Without a word, Yuffie hopped on his back and he rolled his eyes, a human trait he had picked up from both Yuffie and Cloud. He had initially (in the previous timeline) been put off about allowing such a thing, not wanting to be lumped together with common beasts like chocobos, but then he watched Cloud get talked into allowing Marlene to ride on his back. Tifa had been the one to explain that it was how children showed their trust, and they meant no insult. In Yuffie's case, well, the tiny ninja was just being Yuffie.

Deneh, unfortunately, didn't see it that way. "You let a human ride you!" Nanaki simply sighed, Yuffie absently pressing closer. "Do you have no pride!"

"Oh dear." Bugenhagen took cover, though he didn't leave the room.

"Deneh . . ."

"Honestly Nanaki, I knew you had changed, but this behavior, it's as bad as Seto running away!" Nanaki didn't even stop to think, in half a second, he had Deneh on her back and his teeth were bared a millimeter from her throat. Yuffie's startled squeak made him feel a little guilty, but Deneh was out of line.

"Yuffie is my packmate, a trusted comrade, Deneh, and you have no right to question my actions when yours are far worse." He growled. "I'll overlook this outburst, but you better start thinking before you speak." Nanaki pulled back, and Deneh bolted out of the room.

"I'm sorry." Nanaki blinked at Yuffie. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble." Nanaki just shook his head.

"You didn't, Yuffie, Deneh's not used to things changing so rapidly, but that doesn't give her the right to insult you." Nanaki gently rubbed his face against hers, making her smile. "You better wash up." Yuffie nodded. However . . . she made a very quick detour.

When Deneh returned to her room after a few hours of sulking, she found a materia, and the faint scent of a human. Gently, she picked it up and put it into the bracer. It was a nice gift, and Deneh felt a little bad that she had snapped at both of them. She just wished she could understand why Nanaki was so . . . enamored of his human comrades that he would side with them on almost everything.

* * *

_Rapport: Brothers_

Lazard studied the inbox notice on his computer, noting the two emails from Rufus. The first was labeled something regarding work, the second had more to do with their being brothers.

It wasn't the first time that Rufus had sent him two emails instead of one . . . but this time . . . it was like Rufus was talking to different people. The business email was something along the lines of, 'I'll soon be the next Vice President, let's hope we get along and could you send these reports to me as soon as possible'. As if Rufus was talking to a subordinate he had never met.

It worried Lazard, because the second was worded to the point that Lazard felt like Rufus was scared of something.

Lazard rested his head on his fist, comparing the two emails. Rufus could be paranoid, even years after an event. When Rufus was a child someone had managed to get past security and almost succeeded in taking him from his bed. As a result, Rufus started making sure that his bed was always the farthest point in the room from the door.

This didn't read like paranoia, it read more like a plea for help and protection.

From: RShinra

To: LDeusericus

Subject: (None)

There's not much I can do, but I'll make sure our Father won't bother you. Just keep your eyes open for trouble.

* * *

_Report: Trouble in Wutai_

Cloud kept his face blank as he moved through the battle field, searching for survivors. It really hadn't been hard for him to adjust, and he probably should have been a little more emotional, like some of the other Soldiers.

A soft wheezing cough drew his attention, and he quietly moved over. It was a soldier, and Cloud knelt to help, halfway through, he recognized the person he was healing. "Nero." Nero looked up at him in confusion. "You don't remember me, I'm Strife." Nero blinked, before showing recognition. "Where's Weiss?" Cloud continued to cast until Nero looked less like a corpse and more like a living person.

"Took him." Nero managed, spitting blood. "Those Avalanche . . . just took him." Nero tried to get up. "I've got to . . ."

"Stay down until you're healed." Cloud glanced around when a cry rang out, one of the other Soldiers had apparently found a loved one and was grieving. "Besides, we don't know where they took him." Nero shook his head.

"No, I know, I can always find him." He muttered. Cloud found a huge lump on the back of Nero's head. That explained why Nero was so talkative. Nero tried to stand again, and Cloud stopped him.

"You want to save Weiss, wait until you're healed." Nero shook his head at Cloud's suggestion.

"Don't have time, I've got to . . ." Cloud sighed, and glanced around again. Everyone had moved off into the trees, and left them pretty much alone.

"Alright, let's go."

"What?" Nero blinked.

"You heard me. Let's go rescue Weiss." Deepground didn't exist, this Weiss and Nero weren't as dangerous as they had been before, and this Nero would do something stupid without someone to help him.

And Cloud didn't like the thought of Weiss in Avalanche hands, so he might as well help.

Nero stayed silent as he led the way to a group of huts that looked mostly abandoned and were surrounded by a wall. Strife was just as silent behind him. There were two brown uniforms on the largest hut, and then there were three other huts that also had guards. "Weiss is in there." Strife didn't look at him, just nodded.

"Let's do some Recon, we need to know how many others they've got and what their situation is before we can do anything." Strife glanced at him then. "Weiss isn't the only Soldier that's gone missing." Nero reluctantly nodded. And together the two started to map out a plan of attack, Nero relying heavily on Strife's cooler head.

The official report would later read that both Third Class were able to save several POWs that had been under the influence of confuse and stop, and blow the area to bits. The two got an official reprimand in their file, as well as a commendation.

The unofficial report, given to Rufus by Rude, would include that Nero and Weiss had taken Cloud under wing after that event, and saved the blond's life when he took a bad hit from a rifle carrying member of Avalanche.

* * *

_Rapport: The People you meet_

Kunsel had been to various small towns throughout Gaia. He had never been to one that was this . . . wary of outsiders before. Cissnei was waiting for his call for pickup in Rocket Town, so he was on his own to deal with people who clearly didn't want him there.

Not to mention, there were a lot of monsters in Nibleheim.

With a sigh, he headed to the Reactor, and got the shock of his life when the rickety old bridge collapsed. A hand grabbed his wrist, and kept him from falling to his possible death.

"A little help here, I can't hold you forever."

"Right, sorry." It took a few seconds to get him back on solid ground, before he realized what the voice sounded like. "You're a girl."

"Really, I never noticed." The teen in front of him crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him in amusement. She had a brown hat, tan vest (which was over a white shirt) and capris and boots.

"Thank you for saving my life." Reno was never going to let him live this down if he found out.

"It's not that deep, it would've just given you broken bones." She waved it off. "You're the guy from ShinRa everyone's talking about, aren't you?"

"Yes, I need to check the reactor."

"Well, with the bridge out, that won't be possible." She noted, glancing at the now useless bridge.

"Isn't there another route?" Kunsel already wanted the mission over with, and waiting for someone to fix the bridge . . .

"There is, I can show it to you . . . but it'll cost you." She smiled.

"Cost me?" Kunsel was torn between amusement and slight concern. The girl noticed and shook her head with a laugh.

"It's nothing bad. It's just . . . a mystery." She started walking, then looked over her shoulder. "You coming?"

"I don't believe I caught your name, Miss?"

"I didn't throw it. Call me Tifa, but drop the 'Miss'."

"Tifa. I'm Kunsel." The two shook hands.

Kunsel was impressed with the smalltown girl, almost despite himself. She was smart, and was able to take down monsters using her fists and materia. The trip up to the reactor was practically uneventful, but it was the trip down that the two really began to talk.

"You know, my department could use a girl with your skill." Kunsel watched her brush off some items that had been in the monsters belly before it dissolved to lifestream.

"Mm, not interested."

"You didn't even hear which department I work for."

"Administrative Research. Your department wears suits and is also known as the Turks."

"How'd you know that?" Kunsel frowned. She bit her lip, and glanced towards the town.

"Daddy doesn't like it when I get curious about things outside our town. He really hates it when I ask about ShinRa. So I sneak into the record room sometimes to read, and the Innkeeper has lots of stories about the people who stay in the inn." She looked at him. "The old ShinRa mansion? The one that you looked at yesterday? People say its haunted." She paused. "You won't tell anyone I told you this, right? You have to promise not to tell, I can get in trouble."

"I promise." Whatever Tifa wanted to say, she obviously thought it was important.

"Me and a friend snuck in one night, we were about 9, it was a dare, and, well, we found an old file." She shuddered at the memory. "It was kinda hidden, but, well we got curious. We didn't know a lot of the words, but, we got the basics- it was about a guy that was killed and being kept in a coffin." She pulled out a picture. "This guy, Valentine." It was an old picture, but the man was clearly a Turk. "I asked the Innkeeper, later, he told me about the Turks then, and according to the records, A Vincent Valentine was in the area about 20 years ago."

"He probably died on a mission here, it's probably not anything too exciting." Kunsel felt amused.

"If he's dead, then why do I keep seeing him in the mansion's windows? Or on the trails at night when I'm hunting?" She looked at him, deadly serious. "I'm not the only one, but Daddy won't let anyone talk about it. And I know I've seen him, real as you. So why was he listed as dead in that report when he's clearly walking around?" Kunsel blinked, realizing what she was asking. She wasn't asking about a ghost, she was asking about a possible rogue Turk.

"I don't know, but I can promise you I'll look into it. In the meantime, if you see him again, don't approach him. He could be dangerous." Kunsel suggested. Then paused. "Could I take that photo with me? It might help."

"Sure, just, don't tell anyone where you got it, okay?"

"Right . . . if I find anything, I'll let you know."

"Thank you." She smiled again, and then glanced up. "Well, this is where I leave you- and remember, you never saw or spoke to me, okay?" He nodded, and watched her vanish back into the woods, before entering town.

* * *

Tifa took a deep breath once she was far enough away, before dialing Vincent.

"Vincent."

"The Turk took the bait. His name's Kunsel." She leaned against a tree. "Exactly what are you planning, anyway?"

"I need to see if Veld is still looking for me." Came the explanation, that explained absolutely nothing. "Thank you, Tifa."

"Yeah . . . Are you coming back soon?"

"I'll be back in about 3 days."

"Then I'm leaving tomorrow night. I'll go to Costa, get some gil before I move to Junon."

"Rocket Town first, Cid's started a flight shuttle service to Costa- it's doing pretty well."

"Alright . . . See you later, Vincent."

* * *

**And there we go. Another interlude that covers a gap in time that could have become over ten chapters in itself. Oneshots about these ideas are currently being planned, especially the stuff about Cloud in Wutai. (Once again, if you have any suggestions for oneshots, please, let me know.)**

**I gave my interpretation on Gillian's reasons for going along with Hollander. I'm not sure if they're completely cannon, but at this point, they made the most sense. Same with Rufus's slight paranoia and the habit of taking the bed farthest from the door.**

**When we next rejoin the story, We shall be seeing more on Weiss and Nero, as well as the time travel group. Unfortunately, Tifa will not be an active participant in the next part, at least, not till the end, but Barret and Nanaki will both have more time in the limelight.**

**So, I'll meet you all again in part 3. See you soon.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Huh, I might actually get to finish this story this year, unless I end up editing my outline again. That might be a record for me.**

**Also, I made an error in a previous chapter. I said Barret lost his left hand, which is incorrect, it's actually his right. The image of Barret I was using as a reference was mirrored, and I didn't know it until a few days ago (I have since gotten a new picture). When I figure out which chapter I wrote the error in, I'll go back and fix it. **

**Just goes to prove I don't actually own the characters.**

* * *

**Department of Urban Development, ShinRa, Midgar**

"Remind me again, why I have to help you?" Genesis glared at the head of Urban Development, who just smiled.

"You've had some experience in directing and moving troops, and this sector is the most difficult to navigate." Reeve calmly returned to the map. "Speaking of, how's the war going?"

"Not well." Genesis got up and began to poke around the office. Technically he was here for punishment for destroying another training room due to a summon. "Since when is there a reactor in Corel?"

"Not long, they're still building it, I think they're doing some tests on it this week." Reeve glanced at him. "We got reports of Avalanche's possible movements in the area, Lazard assigned some third class as guards." Genesis frowned.

"They should have sent at least a couple second class as well."

"Something about more pressing priorities, at least, that's according to Safety's Head." Genesis's frown deepened. Heidegger was a self labeled General, in charge of the troops stationed on 'home' soil. He was not in charge of SOLDIER.

"And Deusericus allowed that?"

"He couldn't object when the President agreed with Heidegger. A small squad of regulars was sent, and Veld sent a Turk as well." Reeve looked at him, and gave a small wry smile when he saw Genesis staring at him in shock. "Story of my department, we're never a priority."

Urban Development was considered a bit of a weak department, everyone in ShinRa was aware of it, but this . . . it was one thing to prioritize places that needed to be guarded, quite another to dismiss a viable security threat. Corel's reactor was still being built, and lacked quite a bit of security, it was a too-easy-to-pass-up prime target for any terrorist with half a brain cell.

Which just proved that Heidegger's intelligence was even less than that, if he actually had any, that is.

"Who did they send?" Reeve turned on a second computer monitor. The third profile that appeared was the one that caught his attention, though he resisted the urge to stare at it.

Strife. Mrs. Strife had mentioned her son was in Soldier, a throw away comment that Genesis had filed away for later, though he had never really bothered to look for her son even after their return. There hadn't been a point, and he would have needed a good excuse- his almost legendary lack of patience with others would have ruled out mentoring, and beyond that there really wasn't a good way to explain his interest, not without raising a lot of awkward questions.

Angeal might have gotten away with it, but he was already busy with Zack, and Sephiroth . . . that would have raised even more questions than if Genesis just went up to the guy and started talking.

"If you'll excuse me, I believe I have some more pressing priorities than evacuation plans to deal with. '_Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return._'" Reeve blinked in surprise, and Genesis offered him a smirk and a wave before vanishing out the door to discuss the situation with Lazard.

Reeve watched him go, and then shook his head with a small smile. Reeve had met the other Genesis, when the other had randomly appeared in his office, wanting to see for himself what Tuesti was like, and had offered some information about various ShinRa projects. After that first meeting, Cloud became the middle man, and Genesis had once again faded to the background.

It seems time hadn't changed the other's habit of quoting _Loveless_, though.

**Aerith's Church, Sector 5 Slums, Midgar**

"- I managed to finally get up and take it down, but then Angeal looked at me with his 'you've forgotten something again' look, and I realized that my boot was still stuck in the mud." Zack finished as Aerith burst into giggles. "The really funny part was that the entire area around the boot was untouched, so if I'd have stayed there, I probably would have been fine."

"Sounds like a real adventure." Aerith finished whatever she was doing to turn and look at Zack, where he was reclining against a pew. "Are all missions that interesting?"

"Nope, sometimes, we just have to stand there and look impressive. Those are the worst, cause I'm not even allowed to move and I sometimes have to wear my dress uniform- which I still don't get the point of, because really, the things are so uncomfortable that if anyone actually did attack, there'd be no way for us to actually move quick enough to do anything." Aerith giggled again as he pouted.

Zack smiled as he watched her laugh. More and more, he found himself spending whatever free time he had with her. He really enjoyed the time with her.

"At least you'd look good." She offered. Zack was about to retort when he saw her eyes glaze over and she shivered as if cold.

"Aerith, are you okay?" He got up, but stopped from touching her, something telling him that it would be a bad idea. "Aerith, talk to me." She blinked, eyes refocusing. "Are you okay?" She leaned into his touch and he quickly pulled her into an embrace. Her skin was cold. "You can tell me, what's wrong?"

"I think . . . I think something bad happened, or is going to . . . Zack, promise me you'll be careful, okay?"

"I promise." He gently tightened his hug. "I'll be as careful as I can."

**Reactor Site, Corel**

"Well, this is boring, what do you think, Runt?" Weiss stretched as he walked around the half built reactor.

"That I should have gone with Nero." Weiss glanced at Cloud in mild amusement. The blond and his brother shared a common preference for silence, leaving Weiss to do much of the talking for all three of them. Not that Weiss minded, but unlike Nero, Cloud didn't have a problem going against Weiss, or shooting out a sarcastic comment or two when he wanted to challenge something Weiss said.

That, and it was fun dueling someone who's dual wielding ability extended to wielding two broadswords- Weiss preferred the early Wutai version of gunblades, but Cloud could keep up, even when Weiss was using practice ammo.

"You could have also gone with that Corel guy that's with Urban Development. Guy really liked the sound of his own voice."

"Pot calling Kettle." Weiss ignored that one, attention caught by something just ahead of them.

"The regulars are really useless over here, sleeping on the job." Even as the words left his mouth, Weiss realized his error as he continued to focus on the slumped regular. Namely, the large red stain on the figure's shirt. Cloud was already calling the alert when the alarm klaxons went off.

"Wallace is in trouble!"

* * *

Barret had been pretty much minding his own business as he watched the construction. There was a lady scientist there that Cloud and Reeve had vouched for as being safe, and a turk who was guarding her, though both were off taking samples and monitoring the progress made regarding Mako and what not. Barret hadn't really cared, all his instincts were screaming that the reactor was a bad idea, even though he knew it was a necessary evil they had to temporarily allow in order to finish ShinRa's current policies for good.

When Cloud's call came, he had just been able to hit talk when a sword came out of nowhere to take his right hand. Reacting, Barret got the hell out of the way before the second swing could take his head.

That didn't stop him from swearing, though. "The hell's your problem?!" Being the only discernible phrase that anyone else could catch.

Two shots rang out, and Nero was suddenly crouched near him. Barret cradled the stump close to his body, trying to figure a way to stop the bleeding, and unsure about using materia. He glanced up to see what was going on, and managed to see who was attacking, though there was already one dead body, thanks to Nero. One Raven, two regulars, Barret noted, but there had to be more regular Avalanche around, probably laying charges.

"What's going on?! F!" Prof. Rayleigh had appeared by his side, surprising him with her swear, as the Avalanche members vainished- and Barret distantly realized he was going into shock, and had probably blacked out for a minute. The female Turk was nearby in a shootout with someone(s). "Wallace, focus on me." She'd gotten a tourniquet on the stump.

"Where'd the Soldiers go?" He managed, dizzy from blood loss.

"Lower levels to keep the terrorists from blowing this place up."

* * *

Cloud cut down the two Avalanche that charged him, only to stumble as some idiot with a rifle got him in the leg. The lower levels were narrow, but had open ceilings, making them a good shooting range for anyone with a gun. Three more shots were fired as he took cover.

"Nero, we've got a sniper." Cloud called out, only to be met by silence. Cloud struggled to his feet, noting the lack of follow up shots. "Nero? Weiss?!" He froze at the scene that met his gaze.

Nero was hugging Weiss tightly, the guns he preferred to use lying at his side. The alarm Klaxons were joined by others, and Cloud absently lurched forward.

"Nero, get Weiss out of here, they're going to flood the lower level with mako!" Cloud didn't understand how the reactors worked, but he knew there were several mako wells and a reservoir in them, and most were designed with Spillways in case of emergency.

Unfortunately, the only mako currently in the reactor was in the wells, and that was not only unprocessed but there was still a lot of it; not to mention all the spillways tended to be located on the lower levels, and the odds of them _not_ being in a potential spillway weren't good.

"Nero!" Cloud moved forward, and absently cursed as he almost went to the ground. Adrenaline was already starting to fade, meaning he could really feel what the heck happened to his leg, which was a lot worse off than he thought. Nero looked up at him, as a roaring sound began to fill the air. Cloud hit the ground as his leg gave out, and dark sparks began to fill his vision.

Dark sparks . . . He looked up in shock at Nero, who offered a small smile- and that was the last thing he got to see as suddenly he was falling in darkness, before slamming into what felt like metal. Gasping for breath, he struggled to see in the dark.

Nero was able to use his abilities. Abilities he'd only had in the future, after years of experimentation.

More importantly, he used them to send _Cloud_ away, not save himself and his brother. Cloud cast Cura on his leg, before realizing that he didn't have a lot of magic left- at least, not enough to fix his leg. Grabbing his phone, he dialed a number as he tried to figure out where the heck he was.

"Professor Rayleigh is busy at the moment."

"Shotgun, it's Strife, I need help."

"Strife, where are you? Avalanche flooded the lower levels."

"I noticed," Cloud frowned, noting that light was starting to illuminate the box he was in- and then he realized that mako was leaking in through the door, "Shotgun, I think I'm in a service elevator, I think Nero shoved me in it."

"Elevators aren't working, Strife, they shut down as a precaution."

"Well, I just woke up in one, and it's starting to fill with mako. I have no idea what happened to Nero or Weiss, and my leg's pretty messed up." Cloud tried to stand. Getting doused with this type of mako was not going to be good for his health. "I can't stand."

"Hang on, we're going to find you, there's only one elevator currently on the lower levels, so we'll get you out right away."

"Better hurry." Cloud glanced at the mako just as it touched his leg. It burned, but not at the level he had been concerned about- it probably had managed to get diluted with something. Quite possibly water from the sprinkler system and plumbing, though he couldn't remember if that actually did anything to mako.

He really should have paid more attention to how the process worked, but he hadn't exactly cared. Still didn't. He levered himself up with his sword as best he could to get up out of the mako, before collapsing against the wall. He wasn't going to be able to stay like this for long, but it would be better than letting the mako cover him.

* * *

Shotgun skidded to a surprised halt as a familiar figure in red entered her view. "Commander Raphsodos!"

"What's the situation?"

"Avalanche has been taken care of, but the Soldiers are in trouble, at least one is trapped in an elevator on the lower levels, and it's going to fill with mako."

"Then let's go. Explain on the way." The Commander ordered, Shotgun nodded, and started running again as she explained the situation to the commander. "Is there any way to get the elevator running?"

"No sir, safety precaution. We'll have to get him out of the emergency hatch." Shotgun followed him as he sped up, and watched in surprise as he melted the doors.

It took surprisingly little time to get down to the elevator which was surrounded by mako, lighting up the shaft, Shotgun privately wondered if the commander hadn't been using Haste.

"Strife, can you hear me?" Shotgun opened up the hatch. The elevator was filled with mako up to the Third Class's waist, though it looked like he had gotten dunked in it. Raphsodos swore, and quickly moved to pull Strife out.

Genesis had to say he was mildly impressed with how stubborn the kid was, most would have just stayed down if they had slipped under the mako. The kid was soaked, but still capable of some movement, even putting his sword on his back before grabbing Genesis's other hand, though once he was out of the mako he seemed to slump.

"How are we going to get him back out?" The girl Turk asked.

He probably should have thought of that, before, but it was easy to come up with a solution. "We'll take him out the next level, then take the stairs."

It took a lot of maneuvering, and Strife did try to help, but they finally made it. Without a word, Genesis set off the sprinklers, drenching all three of them.

"Commander?"

"He's soaked in Mako, it's better to get him rinsed off sooner rather than later." Genesis glanced down at the sodden 3rd class. In this light, he really did resemble his mother strongly.

"Weiss, Nero?" Strife muttered, trying to move, and Genesis winced, recognizing the names of the other Soldiers that should have been there. A glance at Shotgun and the Turk shook her head sadly, giving him his answer, and confirming what he already thought. Damn Heidegger and his priorities, it cost them two good soldiers.

"We're still looking, just focus on yourself, Strife." A lie, but they didn't need the kid to fall apart now- he could do it after he recovered from being dunked in mako.

It took a little longer on the stairs, but they finally got out to where the medics were waiting.

* * *

Myrna ignored Eleanor's pleas for her to wait. There were several troopers, but none tried to stop her as she went past, holding her husband's spare pass. She focused on the man in Red who was apparently in charge and talking to a long haired blonde with a shotgun.

"You two shouldn't-" The blonde started, and Myrna didn't miss the way she gripped her gun.

"My Husband, Barret, where is he? He was working here." The man looked blank for a moment, but the blonde blinked in surprise.

"Mr. Wallace's being looked at by our medics." The woman relaxed. "Would you like to see him?"

"Please."

"Mrs. Wallace, how- why did you two come up here?" The man stopped them.

"Some fool in brown was trying to stir up the town a short bit ago, saying the reactor was going to blow." Eleanor explained. "He's in a holding cell, if you want him, my husband and some of the others are guarding him. We couldn't get a hold of Barret, and the Mayor forced us to wait to walk up, just in case the reactor did go." The man nodded, then turned to talk to the troopers.

Barret was sitting up in the makeshift infirmary, sitting right next to a young soldier that wasn't really moving.

"Barret!" He blinked in shock as Myrna hugged him, arms moving to return the hug. Eleanor was the first to notice that he was missing his right hand.

"Barret, what happened?" Barret moved his arm as Myrna twisted, trying to see what Eleanor was asking about without letting go of her husband.

"One of them Avalanche, almost took off my head." Myrna gripped his arm. "I'm alright, otherwise, I got the hell out of the way, but Spikey there and the other two, they didn't do as well." He glanced at the boy. "His leg was pretty bad, but they've gotten it patched up and the medic says he'll be fine." Barret turned his attention back to the two women. "What are you doing here, I didn't think they'd let anyone up here for a few hours."

"I borrowed your other pass and didn't take no for an answer." Myrna muttered, making Barret chuckle.

"That's my girl." Barret glanced at Cloud, trying not to wince. The last time he had seen Cloud that still, the young swordsman had been covered in blood and more than half dead. It was a memory Barret didn't like to remember.

* * *

Cloud didn't want to wake up. He had a long experience of waking up and finding things had gone completely wrong while he was unconscious, ranging from Meteor to Yuffie's pranks (and most recently, Weiss's bright ideas on the battlefield) and a part of him knew he wasn't going to like waking up this time.

"Hurry it up Runt and wake up."

"Sh'up Weiss . . ." He muttered, opening his eyes to see black and red. It took a moment to realize it wasn't Vincent (thankfully he didn't say anything). "Huh . . . Commander?" Cloud blinked, confused, Genesis shouldn't be here.

"Strife. Good to see you awake."

"How long was I out?" And where was Weiss? He knew he had just heard the other, but it didn't look like there was anyone else in the area.

"Not too long actually, we're still waiting on the idiots to send an actual medical chopper."

"The others?"

"Wallace lost a hand, but he's at the Corel Clinic, Rayleigh and the Turk are fine . . ." The commander paused, before continuing. "Unfortunately, we haven't found any sign of your teammates."

" . . ." Cloud closed his eyes. "Thank you for telling me, sir." He wasn't sure what he felt at that point, but well, he wasn't feeling much of anything, other than concern about how he was going to explain how he knew it was Nero that put him the elevator, without revealing the other's abilities.

"The Turk Shotgun will be by for your report in a few minutes." Genesis stood, "I need to go check on what's keeping the chopper." Cloud just nodded, and watched the man go.

That had been . . . odd. The Genesis he had known would have been giving him hell for ending up in a death trap like that, and more than a little sarcastic. Then again, the Genesis he had known had slightly longer hair, wore a slightly tattered leather duster and armor, and had an annoying habit of sneak attacks with Fire spells for greetings. Not to mention a Goddess fixation.

The goddess Minerva, also a physical manifestation of the lifestream depending on who one asked. Cloud frowned, as a tentative memory popped up, of going under the mako and having someone haul him back up. It probably wasn't Minerva, but still, someone in the lifestream had helped him out.

Weiss and Nero were gone, too, and Nero had used his ability to send Cloud away. Which opened a whole lot of questions that they didn't have answers for. Cloud closed his eyes and sighed. He'd have Vincent and Reeve, maybe Rufus, look into it. They had a lot more information about the past than he did.

To tell the truth, he hadn't wanted to come back at all. He had been moving forward and recovering just fine, and there had been too many risks with time travel that he hadn't wanted to take them. Especially if he had ended up alone, he relied on all of them to keep his sanity intact, especially Tifa and Vincent.

Tseng, of all people, had been the one to convince him to go through with it, before the time travel had become necessary, instead of optional. Cloud let out another sigh. It was just weird, going through this life, and getting attached to people he had never even met before . . . and losing them, too. He still had no clue how he would react to meeting Sephiroth, and he really didn't know how he would react if he ever met Zack again. He could admit to going out of his way to stay away from any place that Zack could be, mostly because he was so afraid about how he'd react. He'd even stopped visiting Aerith as often, once he had heard that she and Zack were spending a lot of time together. The others might accuse him of running, but given how badly his mind had fallen apart (mostly thanks to Hojo, Sephiroth, Jenova and Mako), he was wary of anything that could cause a relapse.

He wasn't the trooper that had become friends with Zack, and Zack wouldn't be the slightly disillusioned man that had dragged him around for over a year of running from Shinra, and then got killed facing down an army because he wouldn't abandon Cloud to save himself.

**Cosmo Canyon**

"Nanaki, you need to calm down- RED!" Yuffie finally raised her voice in a shriek, forcing the Guardian of Cosmo canyon to look at her. "Thank you, now will you tell me what's wrong? Are you still upset at that Shears guy?" Yuffie had hidden herself when the group of Avalanche scouts had come into the Canyon, and had tried to recruit the people to their cause. Some of the younger adults had agreed, but Nanaki had gotten into an argument with the group's leader about Avalanche's methods. The group had left not long after that.

"It's not that, Yuffie."

"Then what is it?"

"It's Deneh." Nanaki shook his head. "I really wish I knew what she was thinking . . ."

"I'll go ask!" Yuffie beamed, and rushed off, only to stop when got to Deneh's room. Nothing had been disturbed, but Deneh's spare materia bracelet was gone. "Uh-oh." Yuffie had a feeling she now knew exactly what Deneh had been thinking.

It was the same type of thinking that had made Yuffie sneak aboard Cid's plane, and come to Cosmo Canyon.

"Red is not going to be happy about this." Yuffie turned. "RED! OLD GEEZER! WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!"

* * *

Miles away from Cosmo Canyon, Deneh caught up to the group of Avalanche members.

"Guardian Deneh . . ."

"Why did you follow us?" Shears looked at her.

"My Partner might not agree with you, but I do. Please, allow me to help in your fight against ShinRa." Deneh met his gaze. "I am an adequate materia user, and capable of fighting."

"I am honored to have your support." Shears nodded, and the group began to move again, Deneh keeping pace with their Chocobos. She wanted to see the world like Nanaki had, and she wasn't going to keep waiting for whatever signal he was waiting for.

* * *

**And there we go. Deneh has decided to go with Avalanche, Questions have been raised about Nero and Weiss, and Genesis and Cloud have made a slightly awkward first contact with each other. (Not to mention, we've had a brief glimpse into Cloud's real thoughts on the time travel). More shall be revealed throughout this part, and not all of it good.**

**I did say this was going to be the part with a lot of the action, didn't I? **


	12. Chapter 12

**Please, read author's note at the end of the chapter before reviewing.**

**Nibleheim**

"Well, this is interesting." Lucrecia frowned as she looked through the files Rufus Shinra had sent her. With the revelation that Nero had been in command of his abilities, Rufus had been quick to get Lucrecia and Vincent as 'consultants', AKA nameless people that were buried under forms and red tape. (Some days, bureaucracy had its benefits.)

"What is?" Mama Strife looked up, curious.

"Weiss was Cloud's age." Lucrecia glanced at her. "That's according to both Vincent, and the age and date on his file. Nero's at least two or 3 years younger, and yet he was in Soldier as well- and both of them appear older than Cloud by a year or two."

"Couldn't some of the experiments aged them, like a growth hormone?"

"Yes, that's possible." Lucrecia leaned back.

"But you don't think it's the case."

"I don't know what to think, time travel, goddesses, near apocalypse . . ." Lucrecia sighed. "I knew our planet was powerful, given my research into Chaos and Omega, but messing with time?" Lucrecia looked at the notes. "We know that Aerith is able to remember it in dreams, Cid and Barret have reported some of their co-workers having moments of Déjà vu, and there's probably more instances that we're not aware of." Mrs. Strife nodded, and leaned back. "I'm not so sure 'traveling in back in time' is what they actually did, exactly."

"Then what do you think happened?"

" . . . I'll wait until I have more evidence to support my theory, before I make any judgements." Lucrecia shook her head.

"Well, whenever you're ready." Mrs. Strife turned back to her own set of files. Lucrecia nodded, but instead of returning to the (somewhat vague) notes on Deepground, began to think about her son.

He hadn't rejected her, even did his best to send messages to her through Cid Highwind. It was a cause for joy, and Lucrecia had been able to focus a bit more on different things that she had only glanced over before. (At the same time, she'd also been thinking even more about her son) It would take awhile, but the two would be able to get some of what they missed out on.

Lucrecia let out a small yelp as her right leg moved, knocking over a stack of notes.

**SOLDIER Barracks, ShinRa, Midgar**

Cloud was resisting the urge to go yell at a certain Vice President. He was still technically recovering from Corel, and there was no way someone like him should know the Vice President anyway, but still, this latest incident had 'Rufus Shinra' written all over it.

"Need a hand?" Cloud blinked as Rude grabbed the other end of the footlocker, and helped him get to the elevator. Once they were in, Rude quickly reached out and stopped it between floors. "I heard about the promotion to second class."

"Do you know why?"

"Corel was a company screw-up. Since you not only survived but also succeeded in putting down Avalanche, they had two options, bribery or make you disappear." It was odd hearing Rude explain things.

"And promoting me to second class so soon is the bribe." Cloud realized. Well, he'd been right about the 'Shinra' part, but it looked like he'd gotten the wrong one. "Whose attention did I catch? What about Barret?"

"Barret and Corel are safe, Barret has been 'bribed' by Reeve with the promise of a new hand, courtesy of Dr. Rui. Rayleigh's report on your survival after being covered in raw mako will go to the head of her department. We can't suppress it, because Genesis, Shotgun and several others have already reported it, too." Rude's answer was a mix of apology and worry. Cloud closed his eyes. Hojo. There was really no good way out of this one, leaving now would draw too much attention and pretty much give Hojo permission to capture him. Staying would mean that Hojo would more than likely take over his injections and there was no telling what the scientist would add to them. The second option would buy more time for Vincent and the others to get everything else in order.

"Thanks for the warning, but you could have sent a message?" Cloud looked at the other.

"I could have." Rude agreed, and then restarted the elevator. Cloud felt his lips twitch briefly. "One more thing . . . Rufus did meddle a little with your rooming assignment."

"I was afraid of that." For Soldiers, Third classes bunked 4 to a room, Seconds two to what amounted to a small apartment, and first classes technically got apartments to themselves. Or they were supposed to, it wasn't uncommon for the numbers to vary, and no one really mentioned it.

"Genesis is interested in you, and as he and two others are partially on board with going against Hojo . . ."

"He's made sure I'm close enough to have their protection, too, without making it blatantly obvious to everyone else?" Cloud asked dryly.

"You're going to be rooming with Fair." The doors opened, and Cloud kept from staring after Rude in blatant shock.

So much for staying out of Zack's way. Then again, with the way things had been going lately, maybe he should have expected his own plans to fall through.

* * *

Zack Fair didn't know what to make of the news he was going to get a new roommate. He hadn't had one in a while, but he didn't think it would be too bad. Then he made the mistake of mentioning it to Luxiere.

"Strife? Seriously?" The other soldier blinked.

"You've heard of him?" Zack had been mildly surprised, though he wasn't sure why, Luxiere could put the most avid gossip hound to shame.

"Hard not to, some of the thirds were talking about him the other day. Mission he was on went south, his two teammates got killed, and not too long later he's getting promoted. A couple of them thought he was real cold, he boxed up their stuff as soon as he got back." Zack tried not to give away his realization that the reason Luxiere knew anything about Strife was his incessant need-to-know curiosity of who got promoted.

"I see. Thanks for the info!" Zack headed back to his room, trying to picture what Strife probably looked like. He didn't get very far, because there was someone trying to juggle a duffle bag and a footlocker and looking like they were about to drop both.

"Hey, need a hand?" The guy was blond, and a good head shorter than him. Zack missed the way the other stiffened.

"If it's not a problem."

"No problem at all. Where are you going?" Zack got the other's foot locker. Then almost dropped it when the guy gave him his own apartment number. "That's where I live, you're Strife, then?"

"Yes." Zack let the other get the door as he scrambled for a topic to talk about.

"You're a little shorter than I thought you'd be." He nearly brained himself with the foot locker when he realized what he just said. First thing out of his mouth, and it had to be something that could be taken as an insult. "Not that it's a bad thing!" Strife just gave a very small smile.

"It's okay. Name's Cloud."

"Zack Fair." Zack put down the foot locker. "How'd you get a name like Cloud?"

"Is there a problem with it?"

"No, but I'd have to say you're not from Midgar with a name like that."

"You'd be right. I'm from a mountain town, Nibleheim." Zack couldn't stop the soft laugh. "Where are you from?"

"Me? Gongaga." This time, Cloud smiled and glanced to the side, as if trying to hide his amusement. "Hey! Are you laughing?"

"You laughed first." Cloud pointed out, and Zack had to reign in his indignation.

"Alright, so we're both backwater country boys. Why'd you join Soldier?"

"I have friends I want to protect, this was the best way." Cloud mentally added '_and you're one of them, by the way._' "You?"

"I'm going to be a hero." Cloud paused and blinked at him. "Though I got to say, you're the first person I've asked who said something about protecting people." Zack tilted his head, and Cloud could see why his former (future?) best friend had earned the nickname of 'Puppy'. "Most join just because SOLDIER's the best."

" . . ." Cloud couldn't think of a single thing to say to that, so he just shrugged. Sensing the potential beginning of an uncomfortable silence Zack quickly found a neutral topic.

"I almost forgot, here- A lot of my stuff has gotten spread all over, but we can divide up the rooms and shelves, the beds are this way-" Zack showed him the rest of the small apartment.

**Department of Administrative Research**

Veld stared at the objects on his desk in almost blank fascination. Kunsel's report of a possible rogue Turk in Nibleheim hadn't been quite as shocking as the fact that a witness had identified said rogue as Vincent Valentine.

Valentine had been his friend, they'd gone through training together, and at one point had been as close as brothers. Valentine's disappearance had been the reason that, when he took over, he made it important for Turks to always travel in pairs. (which for the most part was actually followed.)

He could still remember their last mission together, which had called Vincent from guard duty in Nibleheim, where the other had been for a little over a year. The other man had been unusually quiet, distracted almost, for most of the mission. Veld's attempts to get him to open up had failed, and eventually Veld just let it go, assuming that Vincent would tell him when he was ready. Near the end, Vincent had pulled himself together and Veld had just assumed that whatever the issue was had been resolved, the two splitting at the end of the mission, Veld to go to Kalm, Vincent to Nibleheim again.

Except Vincent died in Nibleheim, an accident, according to the report by Professor Hojo, going up against something that was out of his capacity.

And now, almost 20 years later, a report came in that Vincent Valentine was up and moving around Nibleheim, or a look alike was. Veld closed his eyes.

If it had just been the report, Veld might have assumed it was some sort of hoax and given it no more thought. Two days ago, an old Shinra issue Quicksilver had come in the mail for him, registration number identifying it as Vincent's. And this morning, someone other than Tseng or his secretary had come in and straightened his desk and left a cup of coffee.

Vincent was left handed, and he always, always, moved any writing utensils on a desk to the left side, even if (especially if, actually, it had been a long running gag between them) the person who owned the desk was right handed. Reno, the only left handed turk currently in service, was not only not inclined to straighten up a desk, but also tended to act as if he was right handed, copying everyone else to a certain extent, making sure he didn't give himself away with pranks by putting them in a place only a lefthanded person would. And none of the Turks in current service knew of Vincent's old joke.

Just like none of them knew, or even made by coincidence, Vincent's horrible attempt at coffee that said man for some reason actually liked. That had made him more than a little uncomfortable, as well as caused him to get out everything he had been collecting for years on the possibilities of what happened to his old friend. To Veld, the case had never really closed, but he hadn't pushed, too fearful of what he'd find if he did.

Getting up with a sigh, Veld slipped out to check to make sure that none of his Turks were staying for overtime, and to send his secretary home, just because he was going to be working late didn't mean anyone else should suffer the lack of sleep- he'd already told his daughter where he was going to be.

After waking up Reno and saying good night to Cissnei, Veld returned to his office, noticing even as the door closed behind him that he was no longer alone. Not that the soft click of the Quicksilver that had been on his desk wasn't a clue.

"You're getting complacent, Veld." A familiar voice noted from behind.

"And you're supposed to be dead." Veld didn't turn to look, picking a spot on the wall to look at, not wanting to confirm what he already knew. "Couldn't stay in your coffin?"

"More than you know." Veld picked up the almost pained undertone, filing it away for a moment. "You really did look for me." Veld wasn't sure why, but the almost wistful tone to the other's voice made him want to wince. It was almost the same as his daughter's tone, when Rufus had brought her back to him.

"Did you think I wouldn't? You were too good to have died in an accident, too smart to have tried to go against something you couldn't beat." Soldiers and Troopers could be heroes and die fighting, Turks did their best to complete the mission without getting killed. "Where have you been?"

"Haven't you guessed?" There was a slight shift behind him, and Veld took advantage, whirling in place and aiming to disarm. He ended up on the ground instead, staring in shock at the man he used to know. "You've gotten slow."

Vincent had always been thin, lean, but the person he was faced with was bordering on unhealthy, skin paler than it should have been. The red tint the other had in his eyes had turned into a red glow (_mako glow, and a lot of it)_, once short hair had grown long, and would have helped the high collared cape hide his face. He hadn't aged since Veld had last seen him, either.

The thing that made Veld feel real horror, though, was the gold claw covering the other's left arm. It was solid almost perfectly conformed to the forearm, no visible clasps or seams, and he couldn't tell if the black he could see in the gaps was leather, skin, or some hybrid of both. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, either.

" . . ." Veld opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn't come for one long moment. Vincent just watched him, and some part of him that been holding out reluctantly acknowledged that there was no way that this man could be anyone other than his lost partner. Finally Veld managed. "Planet, Vincent, what happened to you?" Vincent just stood and offered him a hand, consciously using his right, which was still normal, but covered in a black glove.

"I was in Nibelheim, mostly. The past few years, I've been able to move around." Vincent answered the almost forgotten question. "As for what happened to me . . . I died." Veld stared at him as the other man offered a humorless smirk. "Shot at point blank range, in the chest."

"You . . ." Veld shook his head. "Vincent, enough with the games, just tell me what happened."

"It's a long story." Vincent moved past him and placed the old gun back on the desk. "What do you know about project S?"

"Sephiroth is part of it, Hojo is the head, it was part of the Jenova Project, and it involved human experimentation." He knew the bare basics of it, had never pried too deep- he'd been playing it safe for years, especially once he had a wife and child to look after. Not that it did much good, but he tried.

"Do you remember Lucrecia Crescent?"

"Yes." She'd been a beautiful woman, hard to forget. "You were her bodyguard, and she married Hojo."

"Project S involved injecting Jenova cells into a fetus, in particular, Lucrecia's unborn child. It was making her ill, but Hojo was continuing the project without stopping." Veld forgot to take a breath. Hojo had gained a reputation, since coming to Midgar, of being a dangerous individual, but it looked like Vincent had been the first to find out just how dangerous. "I tried to pull the plug on the project. He shot me, used me in various experiments until he was no longer interested, and left me in a coffin." The summary left out quite a few details, but Veld wasn't going to press- his imagination was already filling the gaps quite well. "I was sleeping there for years, until two children found me and rescued me."

"You set Kunsel up." The witness mentioned in Kunsel's reports had been working with Vincent. "You had one of the children set him up, so I'd start looking into you again." Veld was torn between amusement and annoyance, and some vague interest in meeting said children. If Vincent had trusted them to help him, he must have trained them.

"I needed to see what you would do." Vincent looked at him. "I needed to know if you were still an ally." Veld froze, a sudden thought crossing his mind that he should have kept in the forefront of his thoughts.

"I'm a Turk, Vincent, for good or ill, I'm loyal to the company. I won't help you with a personal vendetta. You're a turk too, in case you've forgotten." He added, seeing Vincent's face become blank.

"Turk till death, Veld, and I already died. My obligation to the company was fulfilled." Vincent held up his gold covered arm. "But if it makes you feel any better, I'm not after the company."

"No, you're after Hojo, and as far as the President is concerned, he is vital to the company." He was a Turk, he did his job, no questions asked. He might not care for Hojo, but he wasn't about to let Vincent kill the man, even if he did have a fairly valid reason . . . and even if a part of Veld wanted to help.

"Is he? I find he's a liability, given far too much license. Or have you never wondered why Felicia is so dead set about staying away from the science division, or how Rufus Shinra was able to find her when all your own searches failed?" Veld took a step back as if struck. "I haven't been idle, Hojo is a very real danger to everyone, Veld, and you might want to do some searching of your own."

"What do you know that you're not telling me?"

" . . . I've already told you what you needed to know." Vincent absently flexed the gold claw. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not here to kill Hojo, I just came to see if you're an ally I could rely on."

It didn't. Veld had been an active part of ShinRa's shadier deals for years, had given orders for kidnappings and various other activities that had come down from the President. Now that the shock of finding Vincent alive had worn off, he was all too aware of the gap time had placed between them.

The Turks had been initially created as bodyguards, and a way to monitor the actions of the employees inside the company. It had only been in the last 20 years that the department had become a good deal darker than it had been. Veld had lived through the changes, Vincent hadn't.

"I can't help you, Valentine." Veld met the glowing red eyes, still able to see the ghost of his old friend in the man the other had become. "But I won't hinder you, either." He owed Vincent that much, he knew that, when it came down to it, he wouldn't be able to kill Vincent, nor would he be all that interested in taking a bullet for Hojo. Vincent just gave him a searching look, before giving a sharp nod and turning, vanishing through the door and into the darkened hallway. Veld couldn't even hear him move.

Veld slumped back against the desk, hand brushing an old file and knocking off the picture on top of it. It was one of the picture records of what had been left in Nibleheim, the picture just showing a group of random coffins in a side room.

Someone (probably Vincent) had placed a red V on the one in the center. He felt a little sick, remembering the throwaway comment he'd made at the beginning of the conversation. _Couldn't stay in your coffin?_

**Department of Urban Development**

Reeve just barely managed to keep from shouting as Vincent appeared behind him. "Do you have to do that?" He finally managed, one hand going to check his heart, even though he could already feel it racing.

"How's Cloud?" Vincent ignored the slight glow by Reeve's wrist of a spell that had just been about to be cast.

"Recovering. He'll be doing missions again soon." Reeve gave a wry smile. "Unfortunately, Hojo has flagged his file."

"What?" Vincent stiffened.

"He survived being dunked in mako with minimal effects, Vincent. A report like that goes straight to Hojo, and you know how interested he is in Mako. Rufus intervened and managed to get him promoted as a 'cover-up', but now Cloud can't leave ShinRa without Hojo taking that as a reason to capture and put him in a lab." Reeve sighed and sat down.

"He can't stay either." Vincent crossed his arms. "Hojo could decide to send him on a science mission and conviently make him disappear."

"There's nothing we can do without sending the whole house of cards tumbling down, Vincent." Reeve sighed. "Cloud knew the risk when he came, you know that."

" . . ." Vincent sighed. "If something happens to Cloud, it won't just be cards falling, Reeve."

"Don't I know it." Reeve glanced at the various schematics around his office, they'd had years to plan actions and contingencies, but they all knew that the best laid plans could go up in smoke faster than a blink. "How'd it go with Veld?"

" . . . About what I expected, he won't be an enemy."

"But he won't be an ally, either." Reeve guessed. Vincent gave a short nod. "Well, that's something. Are you going to stick around?"

"I'm going to go meet Tifa in Costa, see how she's doing before I go check on Barret."

"And search for Nero and Weiss?" Vincent paused, then gave a half nod. "Barret's safe, I've covered for him. If you want to talk to Cloud, you'll have to be careful, his new roommate is Zack Fair."

"Fair is aware of my existence." Vincent studied Reeve for a moment. "He's not taking it well?"

"He was planning on staying out of Fair, Sephiroth, and the other two's way. You might want to talk to him. Though, the two of you tend to act like you've had an entire conversation without saying even one sentence." Vincent gave him a look, and Reeve just smiled. "Like that."

**Cosmo Canyon**

"Alright, so Deneh's gone off to help Avalanche, what do we do now?" Yuffie looked over at Nanaki. Bugenhagen remained silent.

"We need to get into the Caves of Gi, between the two of us, we should be able to deal with the caves, and get some valuable equipment. After that, we're going to prepare to leave, we'll go to Corel, first." Nanaki looked over at his Grandfather. "I'm sorry, but things have changed and we must hurry if we're to stay ahead of the changes."

"I understand, but you must be careful." Bugenhagen stood. "I will unseal the caves."

**And the ripples start to become waves . . .**

**Cloud and Zack: A lot of fics have them becoming friends right off the bat, and once again, I decided not to follow the crowd. There are some things you never really heal from, and seeing your best friend die and not being able to do anything to stop it is one of them. Just because Cloud's recovered and moving forward, doesn't mean that Zack's death isn't a sore spot. It's going to be a little awkward for them, especially because this Zack hasn't had to hunt down his mentor and Cloud's memories of Zack are mostly of the time after Angeal died. (Though I doubt a little awkwardness is going to stop Zack from befriending Cloud.)**

**As for Cloud meeting and talking to Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis . . . we'll see, that might get its own One shot. On the same note: Genesis mentoring Cloud.**

**I have my own question: Why would Cloud, having gone through everything he has, need mentoring? Cloud still knows how to fight, use materia, and so on. More on this next chapter.**

**Vincent's left arm: I once read that before Vincent got experimented on, he was left handed, and there are several stories out there that support this, and if you watch several different cut scenes, Vincent uses that arm to support himself or reach out the same way someone who was right handed would. If that's the case, it makes the gauntlet slightly more horrific (I can point you to some real good Vincent-in-Hojo's-lab fics that play with that idea, if you'd like). However, there's also a case to be made that he's just plain ambidextrous. **

**There are a lot of theories, and as we never see the claw removed, there is quite frankly no way of knowing for sure whether the darn thing comes off or not. In the original game, given the graphics, it looks like it's completely solid, in the later stuff, you can see some gaps between the gold plates (and I swear, the gaps between the plates have grown between Advent Children/Complete and Dirge of Cerberus). I have read several theories, some very good and realistic in their own way (others, not so much) and have decided pretty much to just leave it alone. Vincent's not telling, so people are going to be left to their own assumptions like Veld was. I wouldn't mind hearing other people's theories, though. (Personally, I favor the 'gauntlet got fused to Vincent's arm via Hojo and years wearing it' theory, it makes the most sense to me, along with the 'Vincent doesn't know if it can come off, either' theory.)**

**Vincent and Veld's reunion: There were several ways I could have gone with this, but as I looked over my notes, I realized that Veld isn't someone that would quickly turn his back on ShinRa. In Before Crisis, he's being hammered from all sides and pushed into a corner, here, he hasn't had to deal with that, so the best he's going to offer is the promise to stay out of Vincent's way, and pretend he never saw his old friend. It's not the best solution, but it's the most realistic solution I could come up with. Especially since in Before Crisis, Veld was willing to let Vincent return to his coffin without much of a fight.**

**Part of their interaction was based on a friend's grandmother (I think it might have been great grandmother, but we weren't going into that much detail) who lived in Germany during the rise of Hitler. The grandmother's mother sent her to a boarding school outside of germany, and when she came back after the war was over, she was really confused as to how anyone could have allowed such atrocities to happen (so much so that she later left Germany altogether). That's basically what's changed between Vincent and Veld- Veld's being going down the slippery slope that is ShinRa politics, and Vincent wasn't around for the same changes (not to mention, time travel).**

**However, that doesn't mean things can't change . . . **


	13. Chapter 13

**Gah, unlucky 13 . . . it's been a bad week, trying to get the characters just right.**

**ShinRa, Midgar**

Cloud watched as Zack absently raced past, late for a meeting with Angeal. He really envied Zack's sunny personality some days, given that the older boy didn't seem to know or even care, how bad ShinRa could get.

They had started bonding a little over training simulations and spars, and Cloud was struck at how off the whole thing seemed, because he expected Zack to be above him in skill- and he was, just, not by the same amount Cloud remembered.

Though, if Zack noticed Cloud's occasional retreats from him, he never said anything, sometimes he just changed the topic and the two would start arguing over sword designs and techniques.

"Cloud, there you are!" Cloud blinked as Zack returned. "I was looking for you, come on!"

" Zack . . . Where are we going?"

"I almost forgot, Angeal said to bring you." Cloud rolled his eyes as Zack began to half drag him down the hall. Cloud had kept a safe distance (or tried to) between himself and the firsts, but that only seemed to go one way- Genesis in particular liked to try and needle him, and Cloud kept shooting a remark or two back (the first time, he hadn't been thinking, and had just reacted as he always had to the Genesis he knew, after that, when he hadn't been written up for insubordination, he'd relaxed into it). It was a familiar routine, because the other had done the same thing.

Sephiroth, on the other hand, occasionally seemed to be about to ask Cloud something, only to change it last minute. There hadn't, thankfully, been too many instances where he'd been in his former Nemesis's presence, but that could always change- and if Zack, with his recent goal of 'drag my roommate to meet and speak with as many random people as possible', had anything to say about it, it would. (Though the difference between this Sephiroth and the one that had tried to kill him was like night and day, and Cloud found himself slowly relaxing each time they crossed paths.)

So he wasn't too surprised when Zack dragged him into a training room, and saw the three firsts already there.

"Oh, good, now we can get this over with, after all the measures we took to get this place off the grid." Genesis gave Sephiroth a look. Sephiroth just crossed his arms, and Genesis rolled his eyes. "Strife, Sephiroth would like to know how his mother has been doing."

Cloud blinked, before answering. "Better, she's regained limited movement in her legs." It had been a bit of a surprise, to hear the Lucrecia had managed to kick a stack of notes over. She couldn't stand or walk just yet, but she had regained some movement. "She misses you."

Strangely, it was kind of endearing, to see Sephiroth look actually happy about that, before he regained some composure.

"Thank you, Strife." Cloud could only nod, somewhat understanding the General's problem. He couldn't contact Lucrecia on his own, and recently, Cid had been too busy to pass messages between the two. It had probably been frustrating for Sephiroth to know his mother existed, but not be able to talk to her as much as he wanted. And just like that, the reason why Sephiroth kept wanting to approach him clicked.

"Need me to pass on a message?" Cloud didn't miss the flash of gratitude from Angeal, who had probably been about to ask the same question.

"Just . . ." Sephiroth looked vaguely uncomfortable, "tell her I miss her, and wish to see her soon." With that he turned and headed for the door.

"Well, I'm going to read." Genesis went over to the corner of the room, pulling out a well-worn copy of _Loveless_. "Try not to hit me, Puppy."

Cloud was going to leave as well, but Zack's arm shot out and a hand kept him from going anywhere. "I told you Angeal wanted you to come!"

"Alright, alright . . ." Cloud shook his head, amused.

* * *

Lazard glanced up as Sephiroth entered his office.

"General."

"Deusericus, you wanted to see me?"

"What do you know about the Avalanche situation in Wutai?"

"They've been capturing our soldiers, and aiding the Wutai forces- the combination has successfully been able to push us back quite a bit."

"Turks have gotten more information, and they've gotten the location of the Avalanche main base. The President wants it destroyed. Tseng of the Turks will be working with you, as well as giving you most of the details."

"How soon do I leave?"

"As soon as possible . . . you wouldn't happen to know where Soldier's Fair and Strife are, would you?"

"I believe they're still training with Angeal, Why?"

"I'm thinking I might assign them as permanent mission partners . . . their missions together are more successful than if they're separated." Sephiroth glanced at the statistics that Lazard brought up. "I haven't done it just yet, but I've been thinking about it for a while . . . I've got a couple missions lined up that I want to test them with, first."

"You'll have to run it by Angeal, first." Sephiroth stepped back. "He's taken a few steps back, but he's wary of letting Fair go off on his own."

"Given Fair's habit of doing half a dozen minor errands during a mission, it's reasonable, but Strife seems to keep him in check." Lazard smiled. "Good Luck, General."

"You as well." With that, Sephiroth disappeared out the door. Lazard just gave a soft sigh as he looked back at his computer- and the number of missions that he still had to hand out.

* * *

Several hours later Angeal was watching Genesis pack. "I don't like this."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to be too spread out."

"You could always tag along with your puppy, you know." Angeal rolled his eyes.

"Just be careful."

* * *

**Department of Administrative Research**

Kunsel looked up Rufus entered the office area. "Aren't you supposed to be in an office somewhere?"

"No, I need to talk to Veld."

"He's not in a good mood, hasn't been for a while." Cissnei added. "He left orders he didn't want to be bothered."

"I know, that's why I need to talk to him." Rufus then just continued into Veld's office, noting the picture the man was looking at.

"What are you doing here? I said-"

"I'm aware of what you said, but I'm also aware you had a visit a while back." Rufus interrupted Veld, earning a shocked look. Apparently, he hadn't been expecting Rufus. "Given your performance lately, I figured it would be better for all of us if I talked to you sooner, rather than later."

"Well, then I can ask you what he meant, by his helping you find Felicia."

"Exactly that."

"You found her on accident during a mission." Veld pointed at the old report he had dug up.

"Encountering Valentine _was_ an accident." Rufus moved to stand besides the desk. "We talked, he revealed some of what happened to him, led me to Felicia, who was so wary of ShinRa she almost killed me, and I got a nice look at the corruption lurking under the surface of the company." Rufus pulled out one of the pictures, noting the red V decorating the black and white photo of the coffins. "Call me idealistic, but I would rather not have a company that condones experimentation on people." Veld frowned, studying the younger man who had once been one of his Turks.

Rufus coming to him gave Veld more power, however, if Vincent was behind this, then he was being set up. And Rufus had to have known the first, and knew Veld wouldn't fall for the second, so, why did he come to him?

"I'm not compromised." Veld blinked as Rufus set down the picture. "But, if my Father gets exposed, I'm going to be the one that has to fix the mistakes and try to recover the company. I think you and I can both agree, that letting Hojo continue to take and experiment on not only active personnel, but civilians and especially children, is a mistake that will eventually have to be taken care of." Rufus studied Veld. "I came because I want you to investigate Hojo- some of his reports are too vague for me to feel comfortable, though the President chooses to turn a blind eye."

"What make you think I'm interested?"

"Other than I'm still your vice-president and can make it an order?" Rufus held his gaze. "Because this way, you might _not _end up having to hunt Valentine for Hojo's death, or bring in Felicia to Hojo. Company policy, remember? Send the one that knows best about a person after them." Veld tensed, trying not to rise to the obvious bait- apparently, he didn't have any control despite being in his own office.

"And if the President asks?"

"Hojo is overdue for an . . . audit. That's my concern as Vice President, so he won't." Rufus smiled. "I'm sure you'll be discreet, anyway."

"You could have sent me a message."

"I did." Rufus headed to the door. "Your secretary told me you weren't taking any messages the past few times I tried. You might want to check them."

* * *

Kunsel watched Rufus leave, before sighing.

"Would you stop that?" Cissnei looked at him.

"I'm sorry, just thinking."

"When are you not?"

Kunsel ignored her, absently adjusting his hat as he looked at the mission request. "Looks like I'm joining some Soldiers for some recon missions, one's Modeoheim."

"Have fun."

"I should, Shotgun's going to be joining me, though, why aren't you coming?" He was normally partnered with Cissnei for missions.

"I'm going to Nibleheim- supposedly, they've got new intel on combined Wutai/Avalanche forces trying to take out reactors." Cissnei sighed. "I'm going to be the only turk."

"Given all the monsters in Nibleheim, I doubt any terrorist is going to make it through the mountains to blow up the reactor." Kunsel remembered his hike to the reactor and back very vividly. "Hey, you might want to check in with Tifa, she knew a lot of things about the town, she might know less dangerous routes through the mountains."

"Right, your mystery girl." Cissnei began checking her shuriken. "I can't believe you forgot to get a last name and a number."

"She's not my mystery girl." Kunsel muttered.

"Hello, Everyone!" Reno entered the office with a bang of the door, and a quick dodge of the shuriken Cissnei threw at him. "We have returned from Wutai hell!" Rude caught the shuriken, returned it to Cissnei, then all but collapsed onto the couch.

"Rough mission?" Kunsel looked at Rude, who just let out a deep sigh, then grunted as Reno, with his usual lack of care, joined him on the couch and put his feet on Rude.

"You have no idea, yo." Reno looked at them both with a tired grin. "On the upside, we get a week's vacation." Rude knocked his feet off his lap, though Reno didn't act like he noticed. "So, what have we missed?"

"Gun's having family issues again, and Rod might have gotten married."

"Might have?"

"He got really trashed in Costa, woke up with a ring on his finger. I think it was just a prank, though, Knife's been looking a little smug."

* * *

**Corel**

Barret ignored the looks several people were shooting his now non-existent right hand. It would be a while before technology could catch up to the hand/gun creation that he once had, but for now he was a little grateful that Reeve had sent him two attachments. He'd thrown himself into retraining his arm to deal with the stress that came with using the attachments, taking up the job as local monster exterminator. (working one handed in the mines was just asking for trouble, and no one wanted an accident to occur.) Myrna had been wonderful, and Barret could barely remember how he had survived without her.

Turning his attention to the present he absently began to pick up his pace. It didn't take long for him to get near the ravine where he was supposed to be meeting Vincent.

"Barret!" He did a double take as a tiny figure slammed into him.

"Yuffie?" The tiny ninja grinned up at him, the giant shuriken she normally carried seemed even bigger in comparison to how tiny she was now.

"We had to leave the Canyon, things are starting to get out of hand." Barret did a double take at Nanaki, not used to seeing him with both eyes open.

"Miss us?" Yuffie asked.

"Only a little." Barret smiled. "Staying around for a bit?"

"We're planning on heading to Nibleheim at some point, thought we'd help hunt for Weiss and Nero, if they're still around, like Vincent seems to think."

"They only found Weiss swords, Nero's guns are missing." Vincent explained as he appeared. "Do you know where the mako comes out?"

"Down there, it acts like a natural filter- but there's a problem." Barret gestured to the ravine.

"Let me guess, monsters?" Yuffie looked up at him. "I can handle it."

"No, Yuffie, the problem is in getting down there." Yuffie just grinned, and was very quickly pounced on by Nanaki.

"No, you are not climbing down without a rope and/or harness." Nanaki informed her. "Remember your last attempt at free-hand climbing?"

"You're no fun, you know that right?" Yuffie returned in the same tone of voice.

In the end, it took about an hour to find a place to climb down, and another to actually get down.

"You'd think they'd be more careful where they put the spill-off." Nanaki stared at the water- it was very slight, and easy to miss, but the water was glowing slightly.

"It's ShinRa, what do you expect?" Yuffie pointed out.

" . . . Interesting." They all looked at Vincent, who was studying the reactor in the distance. "The older reactors are much more carefully placed, especially Nibleheim . . . but recently, it seems the designs have been slipping."

"Reeve's not in complete control of the Reactors like he should be, so certain features that were present on other Reactors get cut." Barret sighed. "And the president has the last say, so even more things are cut when it comes across his desk."

"Well-" Yuffie cut herself off and in a moment, they were all on edge. That was when the first couple of monsters decided to attack.

Several hours of searching, fighting monsters, and good natured bickering later, Barret finally called a halt to the search.

"There's nothing here, Vincent, looks like the Mako got them."

"You know . . . we thought the same about Cloud, after the other Sephiroth tricked him into having a mental breakdown." The three males looked at Yuffie, who was staring at the river. "But he turned up in Mideel, cause the lifestream spat him back out, then the same thing happened when the Remnants tried to kill him, he fell into the lifestream again, but got spat out in Aerith's church. Mako is just concentrated Lifestream, right? What if it swallowed them, then spat them out somewhere else?"

" . . . It would take some time to search." Vincent noted.

"Why are you even looking?"

"Weiss and Nero were part of the reason Omega was summoned. I'd rather know what's happening with them, than run the risk of Hojo or one of the other crazy scientists running around Gaia finding them and accidentally setting off Omega." Vincent sighed. "Also, to get answers- Cloud said Nero was able to use the abilities he had in the future- that he presumably shouldn't have developed until later."

" . . . Rufus and Rude came back, but not the rest of the Turks- we didn't even know they could until Reeve told us that they approached him." Nanaki realized. "If they came back without our knowledge . . ."

"Who else might have come back?" Yuffie picked up on the thread, and Barret felt slightly ill. "It's not like we can tell, we've changed so many things, it would be impossible to know who else there is- I mean, my father changed to the point of willingly going along with Fuhito in an open alliance, that's something he wouldn't have done before."

" . . . What if it was Jenova that came back?" Barret managed. The beat of silence that followed was thick with tension as they contemplated that. "There was no guarantee, remember? No guarantee we would all arrive at the exact same time."

"Jenova's still not in the Nibleheim reactor." Vincent realized, Yuffie leaned against Nanaki as her legs just about gave out. "We know Hojo was crazy enough to inject himself with the cells . . . how many years do you think he did it, to be able to turn into a monster?"

"And The Calamity can control others, or at least manipulate them, through its cells." Nanaki noted. "It wouldn't take much to convince Hojo to keep it from being placed in Nibleheim . . . or even to remove it in the first place."

"Leviathan . . . but Sephiroth's fine, he's not crazy!" Yuffie protested, trying to grasp any sort of straw.

"This Sephiroth has more of a reason to side with humanity, you and Cid might have helped him grow a stronger defense against any ideas the Calamity could suggest, and he still has his friends . . ." Vincent crossed his arms.

"Suddenly, I'm glad Cid caved and convinced you to take Sephiroth to visit the Doc." Barret rubbed his right wrist. "I'm going to have nightmares."

"We need to warn the others, and we need to find Jenova, we've put it off for long enough." Nanaki's tail lashed out against the ground. "And we need to do it before Hojo decides that instead of getting rid of Sephiroth's friends, he needs to make a Reunion with Sephiroth and Jenova."

**Phew, like I said, difficult chapter. Especially near the end.**

**Alright, next chapter: Missions, conversations, and the end of Part 3 . . . then things are really going to get moving in Part 4. (Yes, I know, things have been moving in this part as well.)**

**Please, leave a review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A little late, but a lot happens in this chapter, I even had to edit a few things out to get it all in. Enjoy, but remember, I am writing on FanFiction Dot Net, and thus I do not own the rights to Final Fantasy **_**Anything**_**. A shame, because I really would like to try my hand at writing a video game . . . **

**Route to Nibleheim**

Vincent scowled at the third helicopter to go by in less than 24 hours. Yuffie and Nanaki re-emerged from the nearby foliage, and joined him in watching it fly into the distance.

"What are those lousy ShinRa goons up to now?" Yuffie asked.

"Perhaps they are putting Jenova back into the Nibleheim Reactor?" Nanaki offered.

"I doubt it. You two need to go to Lucrecia's Cave, I won't be able to sneak both of you in with ShinRa all over the place." Yuffie looked like she wanted to protest, but then sighed and nodded.

"Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine, you better get going now." Vincent watched them vanish into the correct direction, before continuing toward Nibleheim. If he pushed himself, he might make there in a day and a half.

Things were really starting to get out of hand.

**Nibleheim**

Mrs. Strife resisted the urge to do something violent to the man that called himself Mayor. He had become almost twice as insufferable since Tifa ran away. The amount of troopers sent by ShinRa was a few more than they had been expecting, and as a result, Mayor Lockheart was locking horns with the commanding officer, Genesis Raphsodos.

Unfortunately, as much as she would have loved to interrupt the debate, she really couldn't, so she just kept walking. Lucrecia had pulled away from her almost violently this morning, and had curled up into a ball, refusing to speak, just giving small sobs. Lucrecia hadn't had an episode like this in a while, ever since she'd gotten to see Sephiroth, and it worried Mrs. Strife that her friend wasn't really recovering at all.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, could I ask you something." The female turk that stopped her looked almost exasperated. Judging from the looks of the other townspeople, they probably hadn't been very helpful.

"I believe you just did, dear, but feel free to ask another question." Mrs. Strife smiled at her, and the girl's expression of surprised relief made her want to sigh.

"I'm looking for a girl named Tifa." Mrs. Strife winced, and shot a glance over to where the Mayor and Genesis were still arguing. Thankfully, no one else seemed to hear, so Mrs. Strife quickly focused on the young woman.

"You might want to walk with me, child- I'm not as young as I used to be." Mrs. Strife passed her a bag, and then proceeded to steer her out of the view of the other townspeople. "Tifa's the mayor's daughter, she ran away not to long after the last reactor inspection. It's caused quite a stir in the town, as you can imagine."

"I think I can." The female Turk sighed. "I was hoping to talk to her- no one else seems willing to say anything."

"It's your appearance I'm afraid, there are some in the town that have a very . . . old-fashioned view of women, and you're here in a suit, a giant throwing star, and in a job that they know is rather . . . unpleasant. They'll tolerate your presence, but don't expect many of the older villagers to be willing to chat."

"You're willing."

"I'm the disreputable woman in town, anything I do is either gossip fodder or ignored." She smiled. "Anything else you need to know?"

The two talked a little bit more about the town and the surrounding area, before Mrs. Strife headed home, and the female turk, who introduced herself as Cissnei near the end, headed back to the inn.

* * *

Genesis moved around the town, marking out a perimeter for a few troopers to be stationed as guards. It also gave him an excuse to check in on Mrs. Strife and Dr. Crescent.

"Genesis." Mrs. Strife had glanced out of her door to make sure he was alone before addressing the man in front of her. "You're here for the reactor?"

"We think there might be an attack on it by Wutai/Avalanche forces, though that's just the official reason. Unofficially, I'm just here to because Lazard was annoyed with me." Mrs. Strife laughed. "I don't have long to stay, so is it alright if I get your number? I don't think that mayor of yours would call if something out of the ordinary happened, he seems rather against ShinRa as a whole." Mrs. Strife nodded, and Genesis glanced in the house after they traded numbers. "How is she doing?"

"It's a bad day, she's still in bed." Genesis nodded. "If you get a chance when you're at the reactor . . . can you see if Jenova is there? Vincent's fairly certain she isn't, but it would help if you double checked."

"I'll see what I can do." Genesis nodded again. Unspoken was the request, and promise, not to tell Sephiroth his mother was unwell again.

It was several hours before Genesis got to go to the reactor, almost sundown. He frowned as he heard the blades of another chopper heading towards town.

He hadn't been expecting back up, but perhaps it was the turks coming for their operative. Turning his attention to the reactor, he found evidence of some of the old processing equipment, but nothing resembling a fossil in the reactor.

"Ah!" Genesis glanced back at Cissnei, who'd been looking into the mako pods as he checked out the secure area where Jenova had once been held.

"What's wrong?"

"There's something inside." She managed, backing up. Genesis glanced in the pod in question, and also recoiled. There was no other term to define the creature inside other than 'monster'. "What sort of creature . . ."

"Human. It was human . . . someone put him in there and just . . . left him." Genesis realized, feeling sick.

"Sir, there are more over here." One of the other Soldiers called out, followed by affirmatives from the rest as the checked the pods.

"Sir, who could have possible done this?" Genesis glanced around, noticing that even the Turk looked horrified.

"I don't know for sure, but we've all heard horror stories about the Science division . . . whoever was stationed here probably just . . . forgot about them." There were people in the pods . . . why hadn't Vincent gotten them out?

_Because it was already too late for them when he escaped._ It wasn't a pleasant thought. A startled yell from one of soldier's brought weapons up as one of the pods opened, spilling mako. The creature inside growled and reached out, only to collapse on the ground. It gave a frustrated growl, which suddenly changed in pitch as the monster dissolved into mako and goo. The sound of retching announced that one of the other soldiers had decided to relieve himself of his lunch.

"Sir . . ."

"Turk, can you get into the computer system? I want to find out if any of these people had names, or even identification we can use. Also, get in contact with Professor Rayleigh, this is supposed to be part of her expertise- no one else mess with the pods until we can figure this out, and don't talk about this to anyone."

"Sir, if it was a scientist that did this, can we trust any of them?" One of the Soldier's spoke up, almost forgetting that Cissnei was still there.

"Until we know for sure who did this, we're going to have to. Though I promise whoever is responsible for this will get what is coming to them." Locking Hojo in a mako pod sounded like the best revenge at this point. The soldiers nodded, more than willing to listen to one of their favorite commanders. A few spread out to find any more possible pods, and Genesis went over to Cissnei.

"I'm not going to report any of them, but . . . I will report this discovery to Veld, he's been going over the science department's use of resources, this might be important." Genesis nodded.

"Fair enough."

* * *

Mrs. Strife finally got Lucrecia out of bed, washed, and dressed in some pants, shirt and light jacket. Lucrecia was interacting very little with her, but constantly played with the ring on her left hand, and shivering despite the warm fire and blankets. "Lucrecia, please, snap out of it." Mrs. Strife hated seeing her friend like this.

Someone knocked on the door, with one last glance to Lucrecia, who was paying some attention now, Mrs. Strife went to open the door.

There was a sensation not unlike being punched in the stomach, followed by a sharp pain. Mrs. Strife hadn't even gotten the door open all the way before she was crumpling to the ground. It took her a second to realize there was an echo of a loud bang in the air. Her vision focused onto a man she had only seen in old photos. "Y-you . . ." He ignored her, as did the two people with him.

Lucrecia came fully back to reality the instant she heard the gunshot. Her hand went to the PHS Vincent had given her, but that she very seldom used. She quietly hit the speed dial, then hid it behind her, just as the man who'd taken her son from her entered the room. "Hojo."

"Ah, you remember me. I'm glad." Hojo smiled. Lucrecia tried to get to her feet, but only managed to slip off her chair. "Interesting, you haven't aged a day since you disappeared from me . . . how did you manage that, my dear?"

"What do you want?" Lucrecia was barely keeping from slipping into panic. "How did you find me?"

"I wanted to know why my perfect experiment kept trying to taint itself with such common creatures, such as Captain Highwind." Hojo ignored her, in favor of idly glancing around the room. "It was easy enough to get a bug in Highwind's hospital room after the failure to kill him, a nurse that was willing to do anything in order to get out of her placement in Wutai." Hojo beamed. "Imagine my surprise, when Highwind reveals that he knows how to contact you, and offers to reunite you and Sephiroth. I did so regret the way things had ended between us . . . especially once I realized how much more beneficial it would have been to keep you alive."

Lucrecia kept silent, unable to move her legs enough to stand. Hojo didn't seem to notice. "And then, the discovery of Cloud Strife of Nibleheim, able to take in mako at even higher rates than most soldiers. I realized immediately of course, that it would make sense, after having lost your own, to continue on with another." Lucrecia just stared. Hojo probably thought it was in horror at being 'found out' but it was more in realization that Hojo thought she was just like him, and had experimented on Cloud since she 'couldn't' on Sephiroth.

_And I married him, why?_ Lucrecia shifted against the chair. _Oh, right, I thought his intelligence was his best feature and told myself not to be shallow about his looks- In this case, I should've just judged a book by its cover._

"Not to worry, I'll make sure not to repeat my mistakes." With that, Lucrecia was picked up by one of the men with Hojo. Her attempt to scream died before it even reached her throat when she saw Mama Strife laying on the ground, a small puddle of blood under her. She managed a strangled whimper at the sight, before her mind decided to shut down and she passed out.

The door slammed shut, and Mrs. Strife shifted, holding her apron to the hole in her stomach. She completed dialing the number she had started while Hojo had been mocking Lucrecia. "Genesis, help me."

* * *

Cissnei scowled as Genesis took off down the mountain with order for them to stay put and continue investigating. The information they had found was disturbing, and a couple of the pods still had names attached to the creatures inside . . . most just had numbers.

One of the soldier's was trying to talk to one of the more aware creatures, but it wasn't going well. She very much doubted any of the creatures were still human enough to understand what was going on.

And if they were, they probably would kill anyone in ShinRa, rather than be friends. And who could blame them, if that was the case?

* * *

Genesis took to the sky the minute he was out of sight. Flying was much faster, and he was almost slamming into the ground when he landed, rushing into Mrs. Strife's house through the back. "Mrs. Strife?" It took only a moment to spot her, laying on the ground, and far too still to be alive. Using a few of Highwind's best swear words, he knelt by her side, grabbing a phoenix down from his pouch. "Goddess, please . . . let this work."

It took a long few minutes after applying the down and casting Curaga but Mrs. Strife finally stirred. "Genesis . . ."

"Mrs. Strife, what happened?" He scooped her off the ground, and placed her on the couch.

"Hojo was here . . . he took Lucrecia." Genesis froze. "I think . . . I think he's going after Cloud, too. Hojo thought Lucrecia experimented on Cloud."

Genesis took a deep breath. "Alright, first thing, we get you out of Nibelheim, you're not safe here. Can you get in contact with Vincent?"

"No need." Vincent came up behind him. "Lucrecia called me, I could hear what happened . . . I got here as fast as I could." Vincent glanced at Genesis. "Though, not fast enough." Genesis gave him a short nod, reading the gratitude.

"How did you get here? I thought I wouldn't see you until tomorrow."

"Chaos." Vincent studied the woman in front of him, especially the blood. He had taken to the sky the second he'd heard Hojo's voice. But even with the demon's speed, he would have gotten to the house too late. There was a narrow window in which Phoenix down would work on a person, and he had arrived just as Genesis cast the second to last healing spell.

If Genesis hadn't been there, Cloud's mother would have died again, and they might've lost Cloud.

_Cloud._ Cloud was still in danger. If Hojo thought he was Lucrecia's experiment . . .Vincent felt sick. If Hojo went after Cloud now, Vincent wouldn't be able to get to him. None of them would be able to get there in time to save him, let alone follow to whatever lab Cloud was taken to.

Though if Hojo did have his own team, then it might already be too late to warn Cloud.

"Can you get her out of town, she can't stay here." Genesis was looking at him. "It's better for her to disappear in mystery now, than have Hojo return once he hears she isn't dead."

"We'll have to stop in Rocket Town . . . Can you move?" Vincent asked, focusing on Mrs. Strife.

"Yes, just a little weak."

"Pack a bag, I need to make a call." Vincent slipped into the kitchen, already dialing.

"Strife." Vincent pushed down the relief that Cloud had been able to answer.

"Hojo's gotten Lucrecia, he almost killed your mother, she's fine and I'm moving her to Rocket Town. Cloud, he'll be coming after you next."

"Are you sure?" Cloud's voice was level, but Vincent could pick up the slight undercurrent of stress.

"He thinks Lucrecia experimented on you, that's why you coped with mako so well. Cloud, you have to pull out."

"I see . . . I'll look into it. Take care of her until I can get away. Call you back later." Vincent could hear someone shouting for Cloud in the background, right before the call cut off. He stared at the kitchen sink for a long moment.

Cloud wasn't going to pull out. Vincent closed his eyes. Not when Zack might end up taken in his place. Zack's death had been the cause of most of Cloud's regrets . . . Cloud wouldn't let that happen again.

Not to mention, if Cloud let Hojo take him, he'd be able to help Lucrecia survive. Cloud had enough of a hero complex left to actually do something stupid like that. Vincent could already hear Cid's colorful swears.

**Modeoheim**

Cloud hung up on Vincent, turning his attention to Zack as he jogged up to him, the two turks trailing behind. "Yes?"

"Who were you talking to, Cloud?" Zack stopped just short of running into him.

"A friend from back home, my mom's sick, he wanted to let me know she was alright." Cloud glanced at Shotgun, who was clutching her shotgun for warmth- or at least, that's what it looked like. Kunsel was holding on pretty tightly to his hat as a strong breeze blew more snow into their faces.

"It's my professional opinion that there is nothing here but unstable ground and mako- no one would possible use this place as a base." Shotgun muttered, moving to be out of the wind.

"Which would be exactly why they would, it's the last place anyone would look." Kunsel pointed out, earning a glare from the blonde woman. "We still have to check this area, then we can get out of here."

"He's got a point, we split up, we'll get it done a whole lot faster." Zack pointed out, and Shotgun looked up hopefully at that, blonde ponytail blowing sideways and hitting Kunsel in the face.

Cloud and Shotgun went one way, and Zack and Kunsel went off in another.

"So, you joined the turks . . . why not Soldier?" Zack glanced over at him. "You're pretty good with a blade."

"Yeah, I thought about it, was going to, but then I figured my skill set would be better in the Turks." Kunsel smiled. "You would not believe the amount of information you can get, just by listening to people talk."

"I don't doubt it." Zack frowned. There was a room half filled with mako up ahead. "Remind me again why we're checking out this place?"

"Science wants to know if they can use it for a lab." Kunsel moved to the edge of the room, testing steps that looked like an accident just waiting for a victim.

The description turned very accurate in about half a minute, as one step broke and Kunsel was splashed with Mako. Zack swore and pulled him back out. "I'm going to say no." He muttered. Kunsel winced at the burns. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so." Kunsel winced as Zack did his best to wipe off the excess mako. "Damn that burns- you let yourself get injected with this?"

"It's normally diluted to being tolerable." Zack grabbed his PHS. "Cloud, it's Zack, Kunsel had an accident with mako, we're going to head back up." Kunsel didn't hear the reply, he was trying to focus on something other than the burn, which seemed to be increasing. "Hey, Kunsel, just focus on me, okay? Try to talk to me."

"About what?" Kunsel had experienced his share of pain, but this was starting to reach his limits. Zack scooped him up easily, and Kunsel couldn't make the effort to feel uncomfortable.

"About . . . What's the most interesting gossip you've heard in the past month?"

"Well, Rumor has it that Dr. Shalua Rui has a thing for her head of department. He's really good with her sister, made some toys for her, and they tend to talk a lot. Recently, the rumor is that Felicia has a crush on him as well, so they're at each other's throats, and Tuesti is oblivious." Kunsel closed his eyes. "Reno, of course, is betting on Dr. Rui making a move first, and Veld scaring Tuesti, but given how laid back the guy is about the Turks, I doubt that will happen."

"Laid back about the Turks?"

"Yeah, he doesn't act like we're . . . boogeymen or anything, treats us like normal people. For Soldier, we're treated as competition, the rest of the departments fear us, except science, which the higher you go tends to treat us more like personal servants."

"I really need to meet this guy, he sounds interesting." Kunsel gave a shaky laugh.

"You'd get along just fine, you're both . . . giant kids, I swear, half of his designs have play parks central to them."

"Kunsel?" Shotgun called out, and then began to check over her fellow turk. Zack gently set him down out of the wind, and moved over to where Cloud just hung up.

"How is he?" Cloud asked.

"Alright, wish I had a tranquilizer, can't use materia or I'd make it worse."

"I called for the chopper it should be here soon."

As he spoke, they could hear the sound of a chopper approaching over the wind.

"Alright, we can get out here and get warm." Zack waved his arms to signal the chopper- which was at the exact time that it fired at them. Metal snapped and twisted, in some cases it blew apart. Cloud stumbled back, and noticed Shotgun trying to pull Kunsel to safety. Zack stared cursing, and a moment later, Cloud ended up thrown a few feet back, dangerously close to a steep drop off, and then pinned by some remaining supports from a skeleton of a building. The chopper landed, and Cloud did a double take as a very familiar red-head stepped out, walking over to him.

"Strife." She was wearing a red SOLDIER uniform, with a familiar symbol on the belt. "Ze Doctor vould like to meet you." Rosso the Crimson smiled down at him. "Zough, he von't say no to your friend . . ." She brought up a tranquilizer gun.

Cloud clicked a small button on the side of his PHS. Reeve had installed it on all the phones he had made, it was essentially a panic button, sending an SOS to the others. It also let the phone be tracked.

It was the last thing he was able to do, as Rosso fired the tranquilizer right into his throat.

**Costa Del Sol**

So far, Rude and Reno's vacation had been a blast. They'd had a run in with Legend, who took Reno under wing so he could teach him the finer points of womanizing, and Rude was getting a chance to catch up on his reading. Currently, the trio were lounging on beach chairs, Rude reading, Legend and Reno checking out the girls.

"Check that one out." Reno pointed over his shoulder. Rude didn't turn around. "Rude, you aren't even looking! She's got a nice pair-"

"You might not want to try that one, kid, she's got a mean swing- works in the toughest bar as a waitress and bouncer. Turned me down when I tried to ask her out." Legend looked a little sulky at that.

Nearby a group of partiers started a dance party on the beach. Rude briefly wondered if he could get a chance to sneak back to the hotel and read- then remember the result of the last time he tried that.

"Rude, come on, girl's got a white bikini top, tan cut-off shorts, and a beach wrap around her hips, oh, she has long dark hair, too."

Rude paused in the middle of his paragraph. _Mean swing, works at a bar, long dark hair._ "Fine." Rude sighed and turned his head to look. He felt his jaw try to drop. How on Gaia had he forgotten she was now here? Tifa Lockheart was laughing with a bunch of girls, wearing exactly what Reno had described, though the sheer white beach wrap was positioned the same way her old apron used to be.

He'd forgotten how beautiful she used to be- he remembered he'd had a crush on her, but he had almost forgotten why. He winced at the reminder of Chelsea . . . he hadn't tried to start up any romances this time around, mostly because he didn't want to be distracted- and most of the girls he liked usually ended up being on the opposite side.

"Well, what do you think?" Reno grinned, and Rude rolled his eyes.

"Out of your league." Rude tried to return to his book as Reno sputtered and Legend laughed. For some reason, though, the two fell silent, and Rude warily glanced up as a shadow fell over his book.

"You know, most people come to the beach to have fun." Tifa smiled at him. "Want to dance with me?"

Rude suddenly found his book swiped out of his hands. "He'd love to!" Reno grinned, and Rude found himself being pulled by Tifa to where the dancers were.

"I thought it was you." She smiled up at him as they started dancing. "How have things been?" Rude tried not to look down too much.

"Pretty good, been busy." He glanced at where Reno was grinning and giving him a thumbs up with Legend- right before going to flirt with some other women. "It's been a little hard too- Reno's not quite the way I remember him, but he's still . . ."

"He's still your friend. I think we all have had that issue . . . some more than others." Tifa noted. "I don't think those types of wounds ever go away." Both of them paused as a howl sounded from their PHS, Tifa grabbed hers and paled. Rude didn't even need her to say it. "Cloud's in trouble."

"Let's go, you've got an apartment?" Tifa nodded, and the two slipped away, Legend and Reno not noticing their departure from the beach.

**Avalanche Base, Wutai**

Sephiroth closed his eyes at the shaking forms of former Soldiers experimented on by Fuhito. The man had died far too quickly, and several Avalanche had escaped, abandoning the base. The soft click of dress shoes made him turn to look at Tseng.

"Medical is here to take them, I was able to transfer most of Fuhito's files for use to go through, though he seems to prefer paper and pen." Sephiroth nodded, then turned his attention to a Soldier that had started rocking, almost hitting his head against the wall.

"He died too quickly." Sephiroth muttered, as a medic went to the soldier. Turning, he left the room, leaving Tseng to watch the cleanup. He frowned as his phone went off. "What's wrong Genesis?" The answer almost made him crush the phone. "I see, I'm on the way."

* * *

Several miles from the base, Deneh and Shears turned to look at the very detailed notebook.

"I can't believe Fuhito would do something like this, that no good . . ." Shears felt sick. "That was a kid . . ."

"I'm starting to think there are very few men of your so called science that are trustworthy." Deneh noted. "Those three . . . they'll try to fufill Fuhito's orders?"

"Those three have been his ravens from the beginning. They definitely will." Shears looked through the notebook. "Says here that a Turk took her . . . we need to get to her before they do." Deneh nodded, and followed as he lead them away.

**ShinRa, Midgar**

Rufus closed his eyes as the Wolf's howl- Cloud's distress signal- all but echoed in his office and head. He had hoped that Veld and the Turks would have been able to find all of Hojo's hidden labs before this happened, so then all he'd have to do was point in the right direction.

They were nowhere near prepared for this, it had taken them too long to get into position. "Damnit." Cloud wouldn't be able to act as a check against Sephiroth if Hojo pushed the man to insanity again. Cloud had the advantage of knowing Sephiroth's moves, while Sephiroth didn't know Cloud's tricks.

At this rate, open rebellion might be the best bet, and maybe he should just have Hojo murdered.

**Aerith's Church, Sector 5 Slums, Midgar**

Angeal slowly walked through the slums, feeling more than a little out of place. Zack had told him where his girlfriend lived, but Angeal had never actually visited with Zack, like the younger man had wanted him too.

And now, the first time that they met would definitely be tinged with bad news.

Slipping into the church, his focus was caught by the green garden in the corner. _Zack wasn't exaggerating, she is a good gardener._

"May I help you?" He focused on the girl.

"Aerith Gainsborough?"

"Yes, that's me." She looked at him warily.

"I'm Zack's mentor, Angeal Hewley, I don't know if Zack's mentioned me or not . . ."

"He has. He showed me your picture if I needed to find you." She stood with a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"I wish I could say the same." He saw the worry, and mentally winced. "You might want to sit down, I have . . . bad news." Aerith moved to sit in a pew, and Angeal joined her. "There's no easy way to say this, but, Zack's gone missing in action. We don't know if he's alive or not, none of the team he was with have been found." Aerith's hands suddenly folded in her lap as she looked at him with a pleading expression. "I swear, I'll do everything I can to find him, but I thought you should know." He put a hand on her shoulder, but wasn't quite prepared for her slightly watery smile.

"I know you will, Zack says you don't break your promises." She hugged him, and Angeal gently rubbed her back, returning the hug.

Angeal looked at the flowers, noticing a stuffed animal laying near them. When Genesis and Sephiroth returned, they were going to get as many men as they could out of ShinRa without attracting attention. If it turned out that Zack and Cloud were captured by Hojo, with ShinRa's blessing . . . they were leaving, and taking Soldier with them. Until then, it would be beneficial to stay and keep an eye on ShinRa's movements.

But for now . . . "What kind of flowers are those, I've never seen them before?" Angeal would do his best to keep an eye out for Aerith, until they got Zack back.

**Ladies and Gentlemen, Chapter 14, and end of Part 3. (How was Rosso's accent? I wasn't quite sure I got it right . . .)**

**I'm going to go into the Author Protection Program before one of you kill me for the slight cliff-hanger in this chapter, so I'll see you next chapter, which will be another interlude, and then we're on to the final Part- Part 4. (You know, I just realized that this is in four parts or 'acts' . . . and I didn't even plan that!) That might take a while to write, as many loose ends will have to be gathered up.**

**On a side note, I re-read this story of mine, and noticed a few errors in the beginning- I switched Costa and Junon on the map on accident, and so a few characters mention Junon when it should be Costa . . . and a couple other minor switches like that. It's not crucial editing, but I would feel much better to do it, so I'm going to be working on that at the same time as writing the remaining chapters . . . It won't affect your reading of the story in anyway, this is just me being a perfectionist, and trying to procrastinate on working out a huge tangle of loose ends. (Notices incoming glares) Okay, you've convinced me, I'll work on finishing the story first, then go back and edit! (Goes to hide) Please leave a review!**


	15. Chapter 15 Interlude 3

**I was joking about the Author Protection Program, but I think I might have to go in it for real . . . some of you are downright scary, even when you aren't trying.**

**Alright, so the first two had originally been in Chapter 14, but were edited out- for reasons I'm no longer sure of. I actually had this chapter finished before ch. 14, and was going to hold off on posting it, but figured- why wait a week? (that, and I figured it would answer a few questions.)**

**Searching and Surviving**

_Surviving: Crash Course_

Shotgun glanced at Kunsel, her PHS still in hand. She had managed to pull him deeper into a building for cover, only to be trapped and unable to do anything but watch as Cloud and Zack were taken away by a ShinRa division she had never seen before.

ShinRa had attacked them- one of the other group had even opened up fire on the place they were hidden before leaving, just for the heck of it.

Did she call the other Turks? Or were the others aware of this? She hoped not, but she'd rather not get killed just because she trusted the wrong person.

Kunsel moaned in his sleep, and Shotgun winced. Kunsel would die if she didn't get back up soon. Taking a deep breath, she dialed.

"Rufus Shinra."

"Sir, it is Shotgun . . . can I trust you?"

"What do you need?" Hesitantly, she described the situation, and for a moment, silence reigned. "I'm sending a chopper. You're going to Mideel, and I want you to stay there. Don't trust anyone you aren't sure of, and I'll talk to Veld."

"Thank you sir." Shotgun closed her eyes in relief. Then realized she was going to be near her family. "Uh, Sir . . ."

"Kunsel needs medical attention, it's the best place for him- keep him warm until the chopper arrives." Rufus instructed. "I'll take care of the rest."

"Okay." She hung up, and wrapped her arms around Kunsel. "Hang on, we're going to get you help."

* * *

_Searching: Wolf Pack_

Cid stared at his living room. Barret had come in from Corel, officially because of Urban Development business, unofficially, for because they really needed to see each other. Tifa had also used the shuttle service he'd set up to fly up to Rocket town, and Reeve had sent Cait Sith. Mrs. Strife was currently resting in one of his guest rooms.

They just needed Cloud and the group would be complete.

Except Cloud was missing. "Now what the ! do we do? We can't drop everything to look for him." Cid couldn't abandon Rocket Town, not with the chance of Hojo still out for his blood.

"Cloud's PHS is transmitting, but I can't get a good lock on the signal, too much interference, I have a general area." Reeve's voice came from Cait Sith, "I'm going to send one of the more advanced Cait Sith units out."

"I can't leave Corel for long." Barret sighed. "Not without raising a lot of questions from my wife." If he wasn't married, there would have been nothing holding him back from going after the others. Not that he regretted his choice.

"I don't understand, though, why did Hojo think Lucrecia had anything to do with Cloud's mako tolerance?" Tifa began passing out drinks, having taken over Cid's kitchen for the moment.

"Haven't any of you noticed?" Nanaki looked up. "Yuffie and I have gotten splashed by mako as well, but we suffered no ill effects."

"I don't deal with Mako all that much." Barret muttered, but then remembered their exploration of the ravine- he had just assumed the mako had been diluted by water, but that didn't explain why he hadn't felt anything. "Damn."

"I got knocked into a small Mako pool in Nibleheim . . . I didn't even think . . ." Tifa paused, glancing at Cait Sith and Cid.

"I've had some mako spill on me, didn't even pay much attention to that shit." Cid lit up his cigarette.

"When building the Cait Sith models, I used Mako . . . I did get some on me . . . I just assumed such a small amount didn't hurt." Reeve replied hesitantly.

"So . . . we didn't use to have this insane tolerance . . . what the heck happened?" Yuffie blinked.

"We came back in time, using the lifestream, perhaps that's the cause?" Vincent offered, Chaos was sleeping, and uninterested in their conversation.

"So, Cloud maybe okay?" Yuffie offered, hugging her mug of hot chocolate closer.

"Just because we don't know our limits, doesn't mean we don't have them." Nanaki pointed out, as Tifa sat next to him. "We need to find Cloud, before the Calamity gets him."

"Well, Cid, Barret and Reeve have to stay where they are- I have another two weeks before I can start searching." Tifa noted. "Vincent?"

"I'm going straight to Modeoheim as soon as possible." Vincent paused. "However, we should also search the labs we do know about, just in case they moved Cloud and not his phone."

"Then Nanaki and I will check out Mideel and that area." Yuffie volunteered, as Nanaki nodded.

"As soon as I'm done in Costa, I'll check out Junon- play the tourist card, and then move to Kalm." Tifa nodded. "Should we get Aerith involved?"

"That might set off the Turks . . . we don't know which way they'll swing on this." Vincent sighed. "Cait Sith needs to go with Tifa, no one should be alone." They all nodded.

* * *

_Surviving: Company Politics_

Reeve closed his eyes as once again his department was cut funding on a project. He'd gotten a virus already into the system- the instant it found the location of Cloud, Soldier Fair, or Lucrecia, it would alert the nearest Cait Sith unit to slip in and ascertain their health, before alerting the others.

For now though, he had to keep playing one very dangerous game- and try not to give into the violent urges being in the same room as Hojo usually brought up.

Just because he knew that Hojo was behind their disappearance, didn't give him the right to attack.

Finally making it to his office, he blinked as he saw Veld waiting for him, and talking quietly with Shelke.

"Veld, what brings you down here?" Shelke hugged him, before going to her sister's office to play.

" . . . I just realized that you're the closest thing to a friend that I have." Veld stated as they entered the office. Reeve blinked at him. "You help watch out for my Turks, you watch out for my daughter, and you definitely watch out for your own people. You're the only person I can actually stand being in the same room with, out of all the other executives." Reeve offered him a seat as he sat down.

"You're welcome?" Reeve studied the man. "What's wrong?"

"You have surveillance everywhere, don't you?" Veld looked at him, still looking exhausted. "You already know some of what happens in this company. Yet you're still a decent person." Veld sighed. "I've been going through the Science department records, and I noticed . . . Dr. Shalua Rui's sister was wanted by Deepground, when it was still running. They're both in your department every day. My daughter, a victim of my own making, is also in your department, with a deep-seated fear of the science division. I looked at your employment records . . . the last Cetra and her foster Mother are also listed, as are a handful of random people around the world, including a beast." Reeve tilted his head, interested. "A similar beast was seen in the company of Avalanche members. What are you up to, Reeve?"

"Damage control." Veld blinked, not having expected an answer. "As head of Urban Development, my job is to make sure the people in the areas of ShinRa's influence are safe and comfortable, if it ever leaks out, that ShinRa tried to kidnap and experiment on children for supersoldiers- how would the people react? If it was discovered that ShinRa employees would be willing to turn on their own families, how would that go over? Cosmo Canyon has over 100 years of research on the lifestream, they can confirm that the use of mako reactors is dangerous in the long run- it might be too dangerous even now. Any of that ever got out, you'd have a riot on your hands- and if any citizen is deemed a threat by the president after that, you'd have a rebellion. People aren't stupid, if they think that there's a chance that they're in danger, they will lash out- and your department might get caught in the cross-fire." Reeve leaned back. "My employees and I are convinced that there is a way to change ShinRa for the better, because if ShinRa falls, the resultant anarchy could be devastating in the long run."

"I had to ask." Veld hadn't expected Reeve to have a plan, though he should have. It was also the most he'd ever heard the younger man say, and even now, he could tell that speech had worn the other down.

"You did." Reeve nodded, finally looking away. The two lasped into silence, before Veld stood.

"If you can . . . I want to find all the labs Hojo has- even very old ones he hasn't been in for years."

"I'll get right on it." Reeve let out a sigh as Veld left, before checking for any bugs that might have been left behind.

He was going to go gray soon, with all the stress.

* * *

_Searching: For anything_

"She's really gone." Sephiroth closed his eyes, trying to ignore the emotions that were threatening to tear free.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't protect her." Mrs. Strife offered, looking down.

"Wasn't your fault, we dropped the ball on this one, we should have been more careful." Cid put a cup of tea down. "With Spiky and Fair missing too, it's going to be difficult to find even one of them- Hojo's no slouch when it comes to hiding things, we're going to search everywhere we have to, and we'll get them back." Cid assured them both. "We're not going to let Hojo win."

"But you can't save everyone, Captain." Sephiroth reminded him.

"We'll get them back alive. Whether or not they're physically or mentally all there doesn't matter, as long as we get them back alive, there's hope, and I ain't going to give up on that." He wasn't going to forget anytime soon the way Cloud had been when they found him in Mideel, but Cloud had been able to heal, despite the crappy doctors saying he wouldn't. He hadn't been all there, and there had been times when he'd go all silent and damn broody, but he'd healed.

* * *

_Surviving: Repeating_

Cloud wasn't moving, Zack noted groggily. He was lying far too still on the pseudo-hospital bed.

The scene was really too similar to some of his worst nightmares- the ones where green swallows everything.

Cloud was hooked up to IV's and an oxygen mask, still recovering from having almost a couple tons of steel crushing him. Zack wasn't much better, but at least he was awake.

Whatever was going to happen to them, their captors wanted them alive- Zack wasn't so sure that was a good thing. A soft groan from Cloud interrupted his thoughts, and Zack aborted his attempt to push himself up, stomach protesting the movement. "Cloud, you awake?"

"Wish I wasn't." Cloud's comment was muffled by the mask. "Please tell me we're in an actual hospital."

"Sorry Spike, I don't think we are."

"Wonderful." Cloud's eyes were having a hard time staying open.

"Go back to sleep, Spiky, I'll keep an eye out."

"I know . . ." Cloud fell back asleep, and Zack resisted the urge to try and get him to wake up again.

Suddenly, Cloud sleeping felt like a bad idea, but there wasn't anything Zack could do.

"I'll get you out of this, Cloud, if it's the last thing I do." Zack promised his sleeping friend, before the drugs in his own system began to pull him back to sleep.

For both of them, they had no way of knowing how much time passed, drugged and almost drowning in mako, they were only aware of each other and the creepy scientist working on them.

Then came a point in time when something changed.

Because one day had Zack waking up in a different lab, with Cloud nowhere in sight; while Cloud woke up with the partial realization that Zack was gone.

* * *

_Searching: For a Friend_

"Damnit Cloud, where are you!" Yuffie shouted at the night sky. Nanaki looked up, resisting the urge to add his own type of howl in an attempt to find a lost packmate. Yuffie slumped against him, and Nanaki smelled salt.

"Yuffie?" The Princess was crying.

"What if he forgets us?" She whimpered softly. "That bastard really screwed him up the last time, what if that happens again?"

"It won't, Cloud's stronger than he was then- he knows we're looking for him, he won't give up."

"If we take too long, part of him might." She could still remember Genesis shying away from any sort of hope of freedom- and he hadn't been tortured! "Damnit, Red, Cloud doesn't deserve this."

"Wutai didn't deserve war, Corel didn't deserve to be destroyed, Nibelheim didn't deserve to be burned. There are a lot of things people don't deserve- we knew we couldn't save everyone, when we came back, but we still tried." Nanaki gently nuzzled her shoulder. "Cloud's going to fight this, we have to fight too."

"Right, we'll get him back, and then kick his butt for worrying us like this!" Yuffie wiped away her tears. "No time to cry, we've got a chocobo-head to find."

"First, though, let's get you some sleep." Nanaki allowed her to curl up next to him.

* * *

_Surviving: Nightmares_

Lucrecia woke up in shock, nightmare already fading.

Her memory of everything during her time as Hojo's wife had faded over time, to the point where she really didn't know exactly what happened and when, even her notes from that time were out of order and incomplete. But as disjointed as her memory during the daytime was, when she slept, it was even worse.

She sat up on her small cot, hoping that she would get a chance to talk to Cloud- Hojo usually kept him drugged or unconscious when she was in the room, and they'd only gotten a chance to actually speak once, when Cloud was able to tell her that his mother survived. She didn't know where Hojo had taken the other young man.

Lucrecia gave a small humorless smile. There were a lot of things she didn't know, but there was one thought that she held onto- she was going to get out of this nightmare. She was going to fix her mistake. For Sephiroth, For Vincent, For the mother and son that had helped her, she was going to get out, and she was going to put Hojo down, somehow.

She didn't have time for guilt, so she focused on her anger toward Hojo and desire to keep Cloud alive.

Lucrecia wasn't going to fail this time.

* * *

_Searching: Found, Lost Turk_

Rude had never felt so angry- not even when Reno dyed his clothes neon green. It took him a moment to regain his bearings, before ignoring the groaning man and looking at the girl in a honeybee costume he just saved.

"Are you alright?" _I'm so sorry, Elena, I should have found you sooner._ Elena just glanced at the man he'd beaten to a pulp.

"You didn't have to do that. I . . ." Her voice failed, and she absently wrapped her arms around herself.

"He was going to hurt you, and I could hear your cries for help." Rude took off his jacket, and wrapped it around her. "Let's get you out of here."

Why hadn't he looked harder for her? Had he just assumed that she would find her way to the Turks? It had been so foolish of him, to think that Elena would have been safe and out of harm's way all these years- he should have checked up on her, like he had Reno.

But the other Elena had always been Tseng's concern, and he had always been the one to check on Reno while Tseng kept Elena from killing the redhead.

"Um, what . . . ?"

"Sorry, My name is Rude, I work with ShinRa, the Turks."

"Elena . . ." She shakily leaned against him as he led her away. "Where are we going?"

"Some place where you can rest without having to worry about being taken advantage of." He took her to his apartment, noticing her tension returning. "Here, clothes, should fit, but might be a little big." They were Reno's old clothes, that had gotten left in his apartment over time.

"Do you . . . Do you want me to . . ." Rude suddenly realized what she was trying to ask, what she probably had been thinking on the way, and he almost wanted to throw up.

"No! No, I don't want to do anything to you, or have you do anything for me- bathroom's that way and you can lock the door, then you can help yourself to something in the kitchen." Elena just nodded, a little shaky still, and Rude waited until he was sure she was in the bathroom before calling Reeve.

"Rude, what is it?"

"You still need a secretary, right?"

"Well, yes, why?"

"I found Elena, She was working as a Honeybee girl." The silence that came over the line was not helpful. "I've got to get her out of that environment, but it'll take her too long to get admitted into the Turks, they'll have to do a background check . . ."

"If she wants the job, I'll hire her." Reeve promised, and Rude thanked him and then took a steady breath.

"Um, are you okay?" Elena was dressed in a shirt that was a size to big for her, and pants that needed to be rolled and belted.

"For the most part."

"You're the first guy that's been nice to me ever since I fell into the Honeybees."

"How'd you end up there?" Gun had been having family issues . . . had that meant Elena was in trouble all this time?

" . . . I owe a debt. I need the work to pay off my debt." She crossed her arms. "I keep getting in trouble, though."

"I can help, if you'd like- A friend of mine needs a secretary."

"They wouldn't let me go that easily."

"They would, if they want to keep buzzing around." Elena tilted her head, and he could see the bruise already forming where the man had landed a good hit on her eye. "Say the word, and we can burn that bee costume."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because . . ." Rude paused. "Because you remind me of someone I used to know, and that I couldn't help. Because it's the right thing to do." Elena fiddled with the shirt sleeve. "And just because I can."

"What would I wear, or do for an interview?" Rude smiled, and dialed Reeve again. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Elena was hired, and Reeve sent Felicia over to help her get clothes and to sign a few papers.

Rude later met with Rufus.

"I never found her. I looked." Rufus shook his head. "I should've found her."

"We both dropped the ball, sir."

"Yes . . . and that makes me worry about what else we could have missed."

* * *

**Heh, um, Yeah, I'm kinda surprised no one noticed that Elena was still absent. She's not going to be a turk right off the bat- that'll come later, once she's gotten her life together.**

**Needless to say, Rude's going to be playing overprotective big brother for a while.**

**As for Lucrecia- she's gotten thrown into a very similar situation to the one she was in- except Cloud's sort of taking both Vincent and Sephiroth's place. She's not going to make the same mistakes this go round, and she's finally getting to the anger stage. (Google stages of grief, you'll understand what I mean, please note that not everyone goes through the stages in the order they are listed in.)**

**More detail for all the various situations next chapter, as well as more on the Turks! (especially the Turks, in the next chapter.)**

**(Returns to Author Protection Program to work on schoolwork)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Gah . . . this was difficult. I don't know all the Turks all that well, so I challeneged myself to write a 'Main focus: the Turks' Chapter at least once in this story, and thus, this chapter, which will explain a bit more about the turks, present and Past/Future, and what they know about the situation. As the Turks are not in an omniscient point of view as you, the readers, they're going to have a different understanding. Let me know how I did, alright? There will be a couple non-turk characters as well, but I'm mainly playing with the Turks.**

**Also, and this was pointed out to me recently, though I had already realized my mistake when I was trying to re-edit a few chapters- I accidentally mixed up Gun (Tanjuu (Female), if you want to be picky) and Shotgun in one of the beginning chapters. I fixed it for later chapters, but that one error insists in haunting me. Gun is Elena's sister, not Shotgun. Shotgun, however, is from Mideel, and well, the reason why she was apprehensive will be covered in this chapter. (I knew Elena's sister had 'gun' in her codename, I didn't realize it was her codename. My bad.)**

* * *

**Costa Del Sol, and Junon**

The turk known as Legend leaned back in his chair. Both Veld and him knew that this wasn't a real punishment (if Veld had been serious, he'd have been placed in Icicle Inn, or some other place where there was enough ice to supply snow cones for the next one hundred years to the other continents).

Though to tell the truth, he was kind of missing the excitement of being a Turk. He sighed as his PHS went off. "Hello?"

"Hello, Legend, it's Rufus Shinra."

"How've you been- how's that arm of yours?"

"I've got an assignment for you." Legend absently straightened.

"What sort of assignment?"

"One that I'm pretty sure you're going to enjoy. There's a team of people that have agreed to be undercover allies for the company, but one of them has gone missing- He sent a distress signal just before his disappearance. Currently, they have an odd number of operatives searching, and I need someone to help them out that's not active duty."

"I guess I've got time to help, but why are you so interested in helping?"

"Two turks were witness to the event, one is in a coma, the other . . . well, is recovering." Rufus sounded almost concerned. "I'm sending you the information, as well as your contact's number- she's already on her way to Junon, so you're going to have to catch up." Which meant he only just got her to agree to having Legend tag along. Legend nodded.

"You can count on me."

"I know. Be careful, you can trust your contact, but you probably shouldn't trust anyone else."

In half an hour, Legend was on his way to Costa, to meet with a 'Tifa Lockheart' of Urban Development. The boat ride over was a non-event, though he got a couple numbers.

In Junon, he was met by Tifa Lockheart, the barmaid that had decked two huge bruisers who had hit on her, and single handedly broke up most of the fights in the bar she worked at. Legend had debated about calling Veld and letting him know about a potential recruit, but had decided against it in the long run- probably a good thing, given the look she was giving him now.

"So, where to first?" Legend knew better than to flirt on a mission with a female that was already annoyed- worst case scenario, she'd set him up to get killed (or hospitalized), best he'd wake up tied to the bed and not in a fun way. He'd had both happen to him before. He'd wait until she was less likely to cause him harm.

He didn't get his reputation by being completely insensitive, and reading others helped both as a Turk and in picking up women.

"We need to check out the reactor, first, then I think we'll have to check the military installations." They started walking, Legend somewhat surprised when she walked a little closer than he was expecting. He was able to get a subtle glance into her purse, though he was a little confused at why she was carrying a miniature Cait Sith toy in it like most would carry a cat or small dog. "After that . . . anything that's got the Science Department's fingerprints."

"Right, wait, I thought," He trailed off as she looked at him, before managing, "Urban Development?" No one paid them any attention as they walked through the streets of Junon, towards the reactor.

"WOLVES, actually, Urban Development is just a part-time job." She gave him a wry smile. "We've found some disturbing things about the Science department . . . proof of human test subjects, for one."

"I thought you were just a bar-maid with a good punch . . ."

"Technically, I'm a mercenary." Legend began revising his opinion of the mission. 'Interesting' was starting to sound too tame. "What about you, got anything besides that playboy cover and part-time Turk?"

"Was an Anti-ShinRa activist." He watched her reaction, expecting surprise or even disbelief. He got neither.

"Mm, been that too, what made you change your mind?" Tifa gave a half smile.

"Things change." It was a little more along the lines of 'join the Turks or go to jail', and he hadn't wanted to go to jail. He was too good looking for one. "You?"

"We figured a surgical strike would go over better than trying to destroy all of it." Legend blinked. Now that he was thinking about her answers- he didn't see any details that would help him figure out why Rufus ShinRa sent him to help these people. Unless Rufus planned on convincing them to work full time for the company and want him to evaluate them.

That made the most sense, actually.

"Rufus says I can trust you." Legend noted, as they came within sight of the entrance to the reactor. "Why did he clarify that?"

" . . . Because if things go wrong again, you and I might be on ShinRa's hit list." Tifa looked at him. "I'll protect you as best I can, but you're going to have to trust me, Legend, or we'll both be in deep trouble."

A young woman, pretty much still a teenager, offering to protect him was insulting to his ego. "I'm a Turk, what makes you think I need protecting?"

"This isn't your fight, is why." Legend mulled that over as they made their way through security.

She wasn't talking about an actual fight, he figured, but in terms of fallout. And how a girl like her knew to plan for such a thing was another point in favor of sticking around until he figured this mission, and his 'partner' (because that was what Rufus had really meant when he said to trust her) all out.

He was called the Legendary Turk for a reason, after all.

**Hospital, Mideel**

Shotgun scowled at the side table next to Kunsel's hospital bed. It was a nice and innocent looking table, and had done nothing to earn her ire, she just needed something else to look at because Kunsel was sound asleep and looking really strange without his customary hat.

"Well, in recent news that you've missed, my parents found out that I'm here, and promised not to tell as long as I had lunch with them, which I did." Shotgun started talking, knowing he couldn't hear her, but needing something to do- her gun was already cleaned. "They didn't start with any hints about settling down or finding a steady boyfriend, much to my shock. I think my mother wanted to, but Dad kept her in line, it was kind of amusing actually." Kunsel didn't respond and Shotgun began scowling at the chart on his bed.

The doctors said he was going to recover, once his levels stabilized, mako coupled with hypothermia had caused a very curious reaction, apparently. Shotgun figured that was doctor speech for 'we're actually not sure what's wrong, but we're going to watch and do random tests that make it look like we're doing something productive'. Kunsel had been in and out of consciousness for a while, and even then, it was hit or miss whether he'd be Kunsel the know it all Turk or, well, Kunsel who seemed to think Zack was dead and it was his fault.

It freaked her out, not knowing which one was going to wake next, because when Kunsel talked about Zack's death . . . he talked about plates dropping and the end of the world. None of which made any sense, because the plates, as far as she knew, were designed to stay up no matter what. It was impossible for Midgar's plates to fall, they'd been up for quite a whle.

Kunsel groaned, and Shotgun shifted, hoping that it would be sane Kunsel, or that he would go back to sleep.

"Zack . . ." She slouched a little at that. "Zack, why didn't you stay away . . . Monster's den . . ."

"Kunsel, it's okay, Zack's okay." She was lying through her teeth, she didn't know that, but sometimes Kunsel would stop rambling if she said that, and come a little closer to reality.

"Zack . . . stupid first class . . ." Kunsel mumbled, falling back asleep. Shotgun stared at him. Zack wasn't a first class, though there were rumors that he would be made one. Hewley had filed the paperwork, and well, she wasn't sure why he hadn't been promoted yet.

"Um, Miss . . ." A nurse came up, rather timidly. Shotgun turned to look at her, a polite expression on her face. "Doc said you were a good hunter."

"One of the best." Shotgun nodded. "Why?"

"Well . . . there's been a strange beast spotted nearby . . . would you mind?"

"No, not at all." Shotgun stood. She needed to do something, and the staff wouldn't hurt Kunsel- not after her promising to hunt them down. "Kunsel? I'll be back in a bit, okay?" She didn't expect a response, but she still felt a little disappointed.

* * *

It didn't take her too long to find the strange beast in question, but she had to pause. Were those tattoos inked on the fur? It was sunning itself, and the tail was on fire, though it didn't seem to mind.

Almost seemed a shame to kill it, but it was too close to Mideel- and something that big would be able to not only eat children, but adults as well. Quietly, she raised her shotgun- and had it knocked out of her hands, right before she was hit by a spell and everything went black.

When Shotgun came to, the beast was looking down at her. "Are you alright?" She glanced around. "I said, are you alright?" No doubt about it that time, the beast did speak.

"You . . . you just talked?" Shotgun managed.

"I believe the correct phrase, is 'I just spoke', but given all the various dialects, I could be wrong." The beast stretched, and she noticed the materia bracers on his forelegs. "You really shouldn't be traveling alone in this place, there are a lot of monsters."

"Uh, okay . . ." Shotgun blinked. The beast looked at her, and she wondered if it could read her mind. "Why are you here?"

"My traveling companion needed to get a few items and Mideel was the closest town." It lay back down. "She noticed you, and realized your intentions, and took appropriate action, though she may have been over-zealous. How are you feeling?"

"Oh. Uh, fine I think." Shotgun winced at the pain in her hands.

"You make a terrible liar. Hold out your hands." The beast moved forward, and to her shock cast Cure, making the pain go away. "Better?"

"Much . . . um . . ." She couldn't see her gun anywhere, but wasn't sure how to act. "You travel?"

"When need arises."

"Do you . . . uh . . . have a name?"

"I call myself Nanaki, as do my friends." The beast, Nanaki, tilted his head. "Are you going to hide in the trees, or are you going to come out?" Shotgun didn't hear the answer, but Nanaki apparently did. "You know she was with Cloud, he even spoke for her."

"Cloud? You know where he and Fair are?" Shotgun blinked, now super focused.

"Actually, we were hoping you could tell us that." A child swung out of the trees, and landed next to Nanaki. A wutaian child. "But first, call Rufus ShinRa, there's no way we're talking until you prove who you are."

Shotgun thought the call to her boss (and current benefactor, until they sorted out who attacked them and why) would put the world firmly back on its axis. Instead, it knocked her a few more degrees off.

The Beast was to be treated like a person, as he was technically an ambassador from Cosmo Canyon. Yes, he was aware it was odd, but she was told to get used to it.

The kid was a war orphan turned thief/mercenary, who was willing to help find Cloud and Fair without drawing attention to the fact people were looking.

She was to help them out if she could, but her priority was to watch out for Kunsel.

"Now what?" Her turk training hadn't covered what to do when her life started to follow scenes from sort of fantasy.

"Now, tell us how you're doing, is the other guy okay? Can we talk to him? What happened when Cloud and whatshisname were taken?" The kid sat down in front of her.

"Alright . . ."

**Department of Administrative Research (Turks), ShinRa, Midgar**

Rod waited for his normal partner to finish destroying the targets. While turks tended to partner up with the same person, it wasn't unusual for there to be a switch, depending on what talent was needed where. Especially when it came to vacation time.

"Things still aren't going well, huh?"

"My sweet," BANG! "loveable," BANG! "Sister is an idiot. How hard is it to follow orders? Instead, she graduates early and goes off on her own- she was barely even legal! She never reports in, and if she's lying in a gutter somewhere, it's going to serve her right!" BANG! BANG! BANGBANGBANG! Gun lowered her weapon, scowling at her target.

As far as Rod could tell, she'd hit dead center every time. Unfortunately, his partner was a perfectionist, especially when upset. One of the bullets was probably a centimeter too high or something. "Kinda harsh, though, she's your sister, not a subordinate."

"You shouldn't favor family over anyone else."

"Yeah, in the military, not at home." Rod hadn't had much of a family growing up, too many issues that eventually drove them apart, but he did have a few good memories, like the times his old man was sober and taught him about bikes and cars, or his mom's brownies. His partner on the other hand, had a single, military focused father who probably would have done better with having two boys instead of two girls- which he raised to be perfect soldiers.

Or not so perfect, as in the case of the missing sister.

"Besides," he continued, knowing that she was paying attention, "this wouldn't bug you if you didn't care, right?"

" . . ." Gun just sighed, and put the gun away. "Elena's not . . . all that disciplined, she'll get into trouble, trouble that could have been avoided if she just listened."

"Want me to ask some contacts?" She shook her head.

"Don't bother." Before she could say more, there PHS went off. "A Turk meeting . . . something must be going down."

* * *

Veld watched as his Turks filed in, for the most part sitting with their partners. Tseng came over to stand by him.

"As you all know, six weeks ago a team sent to Modeoheim disappeared, Shotgun and Kunsel were on that mission." Veld sighed. "To all intents and purposes, we don't know what happened . . . however, in my research into the activities of the science division, I'm afraid I have a very good idea on what happened to the team." They all straightened at that.

"Not too long ago, Kunsel brought a report of a possible Rogue Turk in Nibelheim- a man that was supposed to be dead, but was seen walking around. The Turk in question was my old partner, Vincent Valentine. He had been killed on a mission to Nibelheim, supposedly protecting scientists from a lab experiment that got lose. I initially thought nothing of the report- Valentine's death might have been suspicious at the time, but I believed that he was dead. Then someone sent in his old Quicksilver. A few days later, someone straightened my desk, using a few of Valentine's old quirks. I was immediately on edge, and decided to go over all my old notes, that night, after I had sent everyone home, I came back to my office and found it occupied."

"What!" Reno gaped, and Cissnei straightened. "Boss, we would've seen-"

"No one ever saw Valentine unless he wanted to be seen." Veld's lips twitched at their looks of shock. "He was changed, but I was able to recognize Valentine when I came face to face with him. He told me that he tried to stop one of Hojo's projects, and Hojo shot him, and then used him as an experiment." Veld sighed. "Vincent saw Hojo as a danger to the company, and at that point in time, I held to my orders, refusing to help him take down the professor."

"But he was a Turk." Knife objected from her spot next to Gun.

"No such thing as a 'former Turk', yo." Reno noticed Veld's expression. "Right, Boss?"

"When Valentine 'died' turks were more concerned with internal affairs, such as embezzlement and we were mainly bodyguards. According to Vincent, he did die, but Hojo resuccitated him to use in his experiments, and his obligation to the company was fulfilled. I didn't argue the point." Veld sighed. "Not too long later, Vice President Shinra approached and asked me to take an overdue look at what exactly went on in the Science Department . . . what I've been finding is unsettling- a large amount of people, even employees in the Science department, go in but don't always come out. Then Cissnei's mission to Nibelheim revealed this." Veld removed the piece of cardboard that was in front of the projector lense, showing mako pods and glimpses of the creatures inside. "People, most former Soldiers, were placed into the pods and left to mutate." He quietly moved the slides forward as the assembled turks looked on.

By nature, most Turks weren't squeamish, and Cissnei had become slightly desensitized to the appearance of those in the pods, but it was still enough to cause their stomachs to attempt to rebel.

"So far, I've got a list of missing people, including children, that had connections to the science Department." Veld stated softly. "But, given the evidence, I'm afraid that it's highly likely, that Hojo had the mission sabotaged, and took them for experimentation." The next slide were the photos of Shotgun, Kunsel, Zack Fair and Cloud Strife.

"There might be a civilian mixed up in this too." Cissnei spoke up. "Tifa Lockheart, the girl that alerted Kunsel to Valentine, ran away not long after Kunsel's mission."

"Strife's from Nibelheim." Rude spoke up, making the room look at him. "I gave him some help when he needed an extra set of hands. He and Shotgun were on a mission prior to this one. And . . . Reno and I met Tifa Lockheart in Costa during our vacation."

"Strife and Lockheart . . . two children . . ." Veld muttered. "It fits."

"What does?" Rod asked. In answer, Veld brought up a photo of a room of coffins.

"According to Valentine, he was kept here in stasis, until two children stumbled upon him and freed him. He implied that the girl Kunsel talked to was one of the children, and both knew what had really happened to him."

"Which means Strife was probably a plant for Valentine, to keep tabs on Hojo." Gun nodded, somewhat impressed.

"It puts Strife at risk, though, I mean, Valentine knows what Hojo's capable of, and Soldier isn't the best place for a plant, the Turks are." Gun glared at Rod for disagreeing with her.

"Actually, Strife joined Soldier for a different reason, but that's a good guess." They all jumped, glancing back to where Rufus Shinra was sitting by Rude.

"How long . . ."

"Since the beginning, you still need to take me off the mailing list." Rufus looked a little amused. "I was hoping that you were finally doing something about the Science division, and to give you a report."

"So, why is Strife here then?"

"He's supposed to be a failsafe. I can't give you more than that, though." Rufus studied the pictures. "I was supposed to keep Hojo off him, but then he survived being dunked in mako, and well, Hojo got that report before I could bury it."

"I see, and your report?"

"That depends, are you going to help me reign Hojo in?" Rufus studied Veld.

"You already know that I am."

"Good. Shotgun and Kunsel are in Mideel, but Kunsel is still not recovering- he got hit by quite a bit of mako in Modeoheim, and Shotgun was taking care of him when the attack came. She saw everything, including the abduction of both Soldiers by a group that was definitely ShinRa, but of an unknown division. I've been keeping a lid on their survival, I don't want Hojo getting Kunsel, which would happen if they were brought back to Shinra." He stood, calmly passing over a report. "I've also reassigned Legend."

"What?" Veld looked at him in annoyance. The other Turks shifted. Former Turk, and currently out-ranking Veld or not, it felt like Rufus had over-reached his boundaries on that one.

"In the case that Hojo is aware of Tifa Lockheart helping Valentine, I thought it would be best if she had someone to watch her back."

"I see." Veld frowned as Rufus moved to stand near the door. "You still want me to find all the labs, then?"

"If you can, also, my father might be calling to ask you to drop everything and find General Sephiroth . . . I'd appreciate it if you didn't."

"Don't tell me you've gone behind your father's back and sent Sephiroth off."

"No, nothing like that . . . Sephiroth discovered that his mother was alive, and that Hojo had her in a hidden lab, so he's going to find her."

"I can't tell if I want to know, or just settle for 'whatever you say'." Reno noted.

Gun scowled, she didn't like this . . . but at the same time, she was worried. What if Hojo had taken her sister? That would explain why she never contacted them after the first night.

"Tuesti knows about building stuff, he might know where a lab could be placed." Knife noted, bringing everyone back on track.

"He's already compiling a list." Veld announced, then glanced at Rufus. "Has he been working for you all this time?"

"He was aware of Felicia's circumstances when she joined Urban Development." Rufus answered.

"Anything else you want to add?" Veld studied the young man. Rufus hadn't thrown his weight around as a Turk, deferring to those with more experience; it was a little grating, to have a former subordinate suddenly telling him (and the others) what to do, but that came with being the Vice President.

"If the President gives you orders regarding me . . . you'd better follow them." Rufus took advantage of the shocked silence to slip out.

"What the hell did he get into, yo?" Reno was the first to snap out of it.

"Damage control." Veld studied the file Rufus had given him. "He's trying to get rid of the corruption in the company before it gets exposed, but doing so interferes with the President's goal of the Promised Land . . ." The corruption was in almost every department, in varying degrees, and it wouldn't take much to expose it- the fact it hadn't been revealed was a mark at how much control ShinRa had, but someone determined and with the right resources could reveal the corruption like a kick revealing the interior of an ant pile.

Reeve was trying to do the same thing as Rufus (and even Vincent)- and what the Turks should have been doing (what they had originally been created _for_) and Veld gave a small smile.

"We're going to help."

**Urban Development**

Elena smiled as she finished sorting the files. She would have preferred being in a gym and training, but having something to do was _wonderful_. It kept her mind off of how stupid she was getting boxed in like that (though Mr. Tuesti and Felicia had told her that she hadn't been stupid, just inexperienced, which to Elena felt like the same thing).

The only weird part (in her mind) was how her boss was genuinely friendly and not seeking to manipulate her, but that feeling was decreasing the longer she spent working. It had been three weeks since Rude had found her, and two weeks since she had finally started to feel comfortable with her new co-workers.

Being a secretary hadn't been on her list of things she wanted to do with her life (number one on that list was beating her sister) but Elena was . . . content, with the way things were going.

Elena paused, glancing around the desk- Mr. Tuesti hadn't been able to keep a permanent secretary because Urban Development was under funded, he'd even informed her of that up front. (Elena hadn't cared. Still didn't.) The result was a huge backpile of files and requests that weren't critical but Mr. Tuesti had put off because he had other things to keep up with.

"Huh." Elena blinked, glancing around her office. No more random files, her computer confirmed that everything was filled in and done. She didn't have anything pressing, and neither did Mr. Tuesti.

So what did a secretary do when that happened? Elena shifted, feeling the presence of a small handgun Tuesti had allowed her to carry. Felicia and Shalua both had weapons in their offices, though they looked like decorations, and the architects and city planners in the rest of Urban Development all had basic self defense.

Elena gave another small smile. Mr. Tuesti, Shalua and Felicia were good people, taking her in, and Elena had sworn that she would do everything she could to help them in return.

Currently, she should probably make sure Mr. Tuesti hadn't fallen asleep and give him the files she had just finished.

**Modeoheim**

Vincent glared at the twisted metal. He had been searching for weeks, and he kept ending up right here. Hojo was good at hiding things, even in the future they hadn't uncovered everything the madman had done, because Hojo had kept so much of it in his own head. They had found three hidden labs that hadn't been even noted down in what remained of ShinRa's records . . . there had probably been more in the future, but Vincent was praying that it wasn't the case now. He was running low on optimism though.

He had one last direction to search, based on the information Reeve and Rufus had gotten, and then he was out of places to search. He lifted his head as he heard someone approach. After the Cait Sith he had been working with had been destroyed, Cid had called with news that wasn't very surprising.

"You shouldn't be here." Vincent noted.

"Angeal's finishing moving Soldier's with Lazard's help. Genesis has already disappeared, he'll be listed as KIA in two more days. I have no more reason to obey that man, or anyone else in that company." Sephiroth ignored the cold as he stepped closer to the former Turk. "Hojo tried to take my mother away from me once, I will not sit idly and let him do so again."

"We're heading in the direction of the Northern Crater . . . there might be a lab hidden between there and here."

"So close?"

"Why would anyone look for someone so close to where they disappeared?" Vincent asked drily. "Especially when no one sane would have such a place in the middle of nowhere."

Sephiroth considered that, and gave a slight nod.

**Aerith's Church, Sector 5 Slums, Midgar**

Aerith had been quietly gardening, listening to the silent whispers of the planet (none of which were helpful in finding Zack or Cloud), when her Cait Sith suddenly froze.

"So Close . . . I gotta go, Lassie!" Before the cat could shoot off, Aerith grabbed its tail.

"What's so close? Tell me!" Aerith could feel the strange certainty that something had happened.

"Lassie, I cannae tell ye that! It's too dangerous . . ."

"Tell me, or I give you to the daycare for a day."

" . . . Ye're an evil one." Cait Sith looked up at her in horror. "Soldier Fair is close, I need tah find out if the laddie is . . . alright, before we can get him out."

"Zack's here?" Aerith grabbed her rod. "Lead the way."

"Lassie, he's in ShinRa . . . ye cannae . . ."

"I don't care, I'm getting Zack, and I'll go through whoever I have to get to him, you're not going to stop me, got it?" Cait Sith stared up at her, before nodding and throwing a salute.

"Aye, Aye, Ma'am."

* * *

**How was that? I went through several drafts of the first part, with Tifa and Legend, this was the best one- One of the drafts ended up just plain . . . awful, we're talking complete butchering of the plot type awful. In the end, I decided to go with Legend knew when to be serious, and when to have fun- the guy is a Turk afterall, they tend to know better than to misread a situation.**

**Slight Cliffhanger, but it was a good stopping point, next week (or two) we're going to have Aerith and Cait Sith starting the chapter . . . and more information on what's happening.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'd write a long author's note, but I figured some of you are mad enough after that cliffhanger . . . also, there will be plot exposition- it's all key, though I tried to thin it out, so I'm going to apologize if you think it's too much, but the plot exposition had to go somewhere! (Kudos if you know that reference ;) )**

**Now, as promised, Aerith and Cait Sith.**

**ShinRa building, Midgar**

Cait Sith had lead Aerith up an impossibly long flight of stairs, through a couple hallways and even a few vents. No one that saw them had questioned her carrying a rod, or even paid attention to the stuffed toy, so they must have been writing it off as either her bringing a weapon to be tested in science, or things for a prank. All in all, things had gone well on their trip up to the science floor.

Cait Sith directed her to a supply closet that held a few lab coats when they finally got to the Science floor, and the two then walked to Hojo's lab. It was actually a couple labs combined, and there were a few rooms that were suspiciously absent on the map that Cait Sith had in his head.

Aerith's heart was pounding. For the most part, she had successfully blocked out the memory of being in ShinRa's lab, but the unnatural smell of cleaning agents and the overall sense of 'wrong' made her want to run.

But Zack was here, and she couldn't keep waiting for someone else to do something.

"Here, lass." Cait Sith whispered. Taking a deep breath, Aerith entered Hojo's lab. No one was there. "Lunch time, they'll be back in about an hour and a half, and Hojo's nowhere near Midgar." Aerith nodded, and gently released Cait Sith so the two could search. Aerith wanted to whimper every time she saw something new- there was so much pain, even in the monsters that Hojo was using. "Lassie, over here, quick!"

Aerith pushed the feelings away, before focusing on Cait Sith. The cat was grinning, and then very sneakily by-passed a hidden electronic lock, opening a hidden door.

On the other side of the door was a small lab- there was an empty mako tank, some cabinets and shelves with books, and a lab table with a very familiar person hooked up to some monitors and IVs. "Zack!" Aerith moved, almost stepping on Cait Sith. His armor and shirt were removed, and there were a couple recent surgical scars. Gently she removed the IVs and the straps holding him down. "Zack, please, wake up." She studied his face- he looked a little thinner, her mother was going to love fixing that.

That's when she noticed a black mark on his left cheek. It was thin, but it was in the shape of an 'X'. Very gently she rubbed her thumb over it. "Zack, wake up!" Cait Sith gave a slight yelp as Aerith glowed for a moment, then the glow went from her to Zack, healing up the surgical scars to fine white lines.

* * *

"_Hellooo._" Zack didn't really want to return to consciousness, there was too much pain and it was too bright. Sometimes, he'd be trapped between being awake and being in a Nightmare where all his friends died, and he could only watch, a few times he was only able to watch as he dealt the killing blow himself.

Huh, for a moment, it felt like someone kissed him. Must be a hallucination.

Hojo's tone had been giddy the last time he was awake- Zack had no idea what the madman had been saying, but whatever made Hojo happy was never good for Zack.

"_Zack, please._" He groaned, unable to ignore the distress in that plea, and a moment later, his eyes opened.

"Angel . . ." Had to be, no way Aerith would be here . . . maybe it was a hallucination? If so, it was a nice one. Aerith was wearing pink. Including the ribbon he had given her. "Am I in heaven?"

"No, silly, it's me, it's Aerith." The hand on his cheek felt warm, and he noticed that her green eyes were turning watery.

If this was real, he'd be able to wipe those tears away, right? He blinked as he realized that his hand was already moving, and blinked again when it didn't go straight through, like the last time he'd had a hallucination. "Ae- Aerith?"

"It's me, I'm here." She place her other hand over his.

"Aye and we three need ta being going." The moment was broken, and Zack and Aerith both blinked at Cait Sith. "Ye can get reacquainted later!"

"Oh, right." Aerith blushed. "Um, can you stand?"

"Maybe . . . where are we?" It took a minute for him to start moving, and his legs almost gave out when he tried to put his full weight on them.

"Midgar." Cait Sith found a black Soldier Shirt and some spare armor. The shirt was a little small, but Zack didn't complain. "Yer in Hojo's lab."

"Cloud?" Zack asked as he easily connected the Soldier paldrons.

"We're still searching." Cait Sith sighed. "But he's not here; he would've been with ye."

"Damn- sorry, Aerith." Zack absently ran a hand through his hair, wincing as it slicked back thanks to not being washed. He needed a real shower. "How long have I . . ."

"Almost two months, I think." Aerith looked up at him. "The company had you declared dead; I don't think anyone actually believed it, though."

"What about-"

"Laddie, the place is probably bugged, we need ta move before we can talk more."

"Right." The trio slipped out of the lab- and then an Alarm went off. "Damn it."

"Follow me, quick!" The two humans followed Cait Sith; Aerith had to use her pole to knock out a couple scientists that tried to stop them. Thankfully it was only a couple and they got to the stairs. Shouts could be heard as people tried to figure out where to go and what was happening. Cait Sith led them directly into a small lounge with one occupant.

"Cait-"

"It's okay!" the Cait jumped into the man's arms. "This area has a security blackout."

"Reeve!" Aerith blinked as the man smiled.

"Here." He held up a materia. "This will get you out, you'll have to hold onto each other, I imagine. Once you figure out where you are, use your PHS, Aerith, and call one of the others." Aerith caught the materia. "Good luck."

There were approaching footsteps and Cait Sith shot into a vent. Reeve moved behind a couch.

"Probably should pretend to be scared, right?"

"Probably and thanks." Zack grinned, before wrapping his arms around Aerith. As she activated the spell, a familiar voice called his name- and then they were gone.

* * *

Angeal stared in shock at the place where his student and his student's girlfriend had been standing just a moment ago. "Zack . . ."

"What the ! was that?" Reno demanded. "Fair was ! missing, yo!"

"Tuesti, what happened?" Tseng ignored them both.

"I'm not quite sure, why don't you tell me?" Reeve Tuesti straightened from where he had been behind the couch.

Angeal didn't stick around to listen to anymore. Zack had been here, had been in the same building . . . and he hadn't known. He wasn't sure where his feet took him, but he did register that no one was around when he finally stumbled and fell to his knees as something stabbed its way out from the inside. He blacked out.

When his vision and consciousness returned, it was in one quick burst. He was lying on his side, and Reeve Tuesti was adjusting a blanket over him. "Where am I?"

"My office. No one's going to bother you here." Angeal shifted and felt a strange weight on his back. He didn't think his stomach could plummet any further than it had, but he was proven wrong as he stared at not one, but two, white wings.

Wings. And he wasn't getting thrown in a lab. Angeal turned to look at Tuesti, who was quietly tinkering with something.

"You . . . don't seem surprised."

"Well, I thought if you'd have a wing it would be black like Genesis's, wasn't expecting two, either."

"Genesis- how?" How would Tuesti know about that?

"I'm Cid's contact, and I know Vincent. Vincent called to let me know about the wing, so I was able to put a program that would instantly scramble data if it ever showed up on camera." Reeve looked at him. "I know you have a lot of questions, I'll try to answer as best I can." They were interrupted by the toy that Angeal had seen in Aerith's church.

"Everything is all cleared up, I'm gonna take a wee nap." The toy paused, noticing Angeal. "Och, yer awake laddie?" the toy moved over to look at him. "Fancy wings of yers made a mighty mess, feathers all over the place, I cleaned it up, so we donnae have to worry about sneaks."

" . . . Thank you?"

"Ignore Cait; he's got a bit of an ego."

"It's a toy." Angeal managed- frowning as the ears drooped along with the tail, and the way the toy moved . . . something about it just screamed '_aliverealnotillusion_'. "Right?"

"Well, you'd be half right." Reeve came over and held out a cup of tea, which Angeal took. "Now, we need to get you out of here. The instant they learn that Zack Fair and Aerith were here, they're going to turn on you, you might stand a chance at flying out."

"I don't understand . . . why are you helping us?" Angeal frowned; there was no benefit to the head of Urban Development helping Soldiers, or Vincent Valentine- it would make more sense for the man to stay out of it. Last he had heard the man was known for staying out of fights.

"Good question. Not one I'm usually asked." Reeve sighed. "I don't like killing. I don't like deaths of innocent lives being labeled 'collateral'. I'm pretty happy being completely out of the lime-light most days." Reeve met Angeal's eyes. "But even I have a limit on how much I'll just sit back and take. I've been aware for some time that things haven't been . . . right in ShinRa, it's why I gave Lazard and Veld the information of the evacuation routes to the slums, and even out of Midgar entirely."

" . . ."

"Don't worry laddie, we'll help ye every step of the way!" Cait Sith lifted up his megaphone. "They'll nae get information about ye or the others from us!"

Angeal's frown deepened as he studied the toy. Its movements were far too fluid for a robot. "That's hardly a reason to get mixed up with monsters."

"Depends on what you mean by monster. If you're referring to something that's different, new or a little scary, then I'd have to disagree. If you're referring to those willing to sacrifice every last bit of their humanity to get what they want- well, sometimes the only way to stop them is to get close enough to pull a trigger and send their plans to the ground." Reeve gave him a considering look. "Besides, I also fit the first definition."

"What?" Angeal had half a mind to go back to sleep . . . except for the fact that right now, his mind was in overdrive, processing all the new information.

"When I was a boy, I was odd. I always treated my toys if they were real- my parents tolerated it, of course, but when I got older, and still treated them as if they were real . . . well, it was a bit of an awkward time.

"I finally stopped talking about it to them, but my attachment to the toys never really faded. Then I started with making clockwork mice as a hobby . . . I could make them do things no one else could, like run up walls." Reeve let Cait Sith curl up in his lap as he sat down. "Then, when I made Cait Sith, he started to do things that weren't in his programming, I was shocked." Reeve looked at Angeal studying him. "I could feel it, whenever one of my prototypes was destroyed, I initially wrote it off as being too attached, but . . . others, who shouldn't have been too attached to the prototypes, grieved as well."

"That's impossible."

"Really now, do I question yer existence?" Cait Sith huffed. "Humans aren't supposed to have wings, either, ye ken."

"Cait." The cat settled down, position definitely sulky. "Hewley, did you know that Aerith is technically the last Cetra?" Angeal blinked, shocked. "I went to her to ask . . . about what I could do. She confirmed that Cait Sith had his own existence, separate from my creation of him. My ability to make toys life-like . . . is an old ability, one that probably came from having a Cetra in my family tree. The Cetra called it 'Inspire'." Reeve gave him a small smile. "So, why should I fear someone with wings? I'm not normal either."

"Does anyone know?"

"Dr. Rui, Felicia, and my Secretary, Elena. They know most of what is going on, as well." Reeve gently moved Cait Sith over to Angeal as he stood up to answer a phone. "One moment."

Angeal studied the toy, which was lazily looking at him. He could feel warmth (_life_) emanating from the furry body, and glanced over at Reeve. "You send them out to fight?"

"Laddie, he dinnae send us anywhere, we volunteer." Cait Sith corrected. "He'd keep us here if he could."

"Oh." Angeal glanced at his new wings, absently flexing them. It took him a moment of concentration, but he managed to get them to dispel.

"Thank you, I'll let you know." Reeve hung up the phone. "Turks have orders to take you in for questioning. You need to leave." Reeve held out a PHS. "This has a tracking function, and it will locate any of the numbers already programmed in. Aerith has a phone connected to it; her symbol on the map is a white flower. You already made plans with Deusericus to leave, right?"

"Right, but I wasn't supposed to leave for two more days."

"I know the feeling." Cait Sith muttered.

**Somewhere in between Modeoheim and Northern Crater**

"I was wondering if you could clarify a few things for me." Vincent glanced at Sephiroth as the two continued to travel.

"I can try."

"My mother . . . had a previous lover before Hojo . . . is there any chance that he . . . that he was my father, not Hojo?" Vincent stiffened for a second, feeling the question like an awkward punch.

"I'm afraid not . . . there were a couple months between his leaving and their marriage, and her pregnancy matched that time line."

"I see . . . so it really is Hojo." Sephiroth closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Vincent apologized softly.

"It's not your fault . . . you tried to help." Sephiroth glanced around the expanse of white. "What was she like . . . before . . .?" The question trailed off awkwardly, and Vincent watched Sephiroth shift. "How did you meet?"

"She was kind, a little naïve in some ways, especially to danger. She felt a little too deeply sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

" . . . To quote Mrs. Strife, she has a guilt complex a mile wild. If something worried her, she bottled it up and pushed people away." Vincent briefly wondered if he should be telling Sephiroth this, before deciding that the man probably should have some idea of what his mother was really like. "Her mentor and thesis advisor was my father . . . there was an accident in the lad, and my father pushed her out of the way, taking a blow that would of killed her, and did kill him." Vincent sighed. "She blamed herself for his death."

"Survivor's guilt . . . didn't they have counseling for that then?"

"One would think." Vincent agreed. "I think she did recover, for a while at least. I didn't have any idea about what happened to my father other than he died in an accident . . . we hadn't been close for a long time." Vincent studied the area for a moment, before adjusting their course slightly. "Lucrecia and I . . . we became close. She was . . . it was hard not to fall in love with her."

"You were her lover?" Sephiroth looked at the man next to him, and this time he caught the way the man stiffened. "What happened?"

"I went to her lab to find her . . . one of the monitors was on, with the report of my father's death. Lucrecia came in, and, well, she reacted poorly, and began pushing me away. I respected her wishes, and gave her space, taking a mission." Vincent closed his eyes. "I shouldn't have left."

" . . ." Sephiroth frowned, a different point springing to mind. "Why was that file up?"

" . . . What?"

"If she was moving on, why would she purposely bring up the accident report? And if she did pull it up, why would she push you away?"

" . . . I think she thought I would hate her for letting my father die . . . but you do raise a good point." The way Lucrecia had acted . . . it was like she thought he had purposely pulled up the file. Vincent stopped. If Lucrecia hadn't pulled up the file, and he hadn't, then the only ones left were Gast and Hojo. His mind then jumped to an old question that Mrs. Strife had raised, but that he had ignored at the time.

Why did Hojo use Lucrecia? There were plenty of other women he could have asked to volunteer or even marry, and most of his notes pointed to the fact that Lucrecia had been chosen to birth Sephiroth. Hojo was a little too twisted; even then, to love anything more than science and knowledge, though then he actually hid it better.

"Vincent?" Sephiroth got the other man's attention. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to kill Hojo." Vincent growled. The bastard had manipulated Lucrecia and him apart. The way Vincent saw it, now, there were three outcomes to his finding the file; Lucrecia pushing him away, Vincent pushing her away for not being honest, or, and Vincent wished this had been the real outcome, the two could have worked it out.

"Just save a little for me." Sephiroth blinked not quite understanding Vincent's sudden rage, but not pushing further, as the two continued on.

**Lab, Unknown Location**

"Wonderful, simply wonderful . . ." Hojo muttered to himself as he studied the computer readouts. Lucrecia glared at him from her position in a wheelchair. Her legs still couldn't support her for very long. "I really wish you had told me about this."

"Given how things went the last time, are you really that surprised?" Lucrecia crossed her arms. Hojo ignored her completely and she turned her glare to the locked cabinet full of things she could use . . . unfortunately, that made her peripheral vision pick up the glowing green of a mako tank.

She forced herself not to look, if she did, she'd miss hearing something that would help her keep Cloud alive.

"Start double injections . . . going to need constant monitoring . . ." Hojo finished making notes, before looking up and smiling at her. "Now we can start to work on you, your blood work shows such an interesting mix of mako- some of it appears to have crystallized!" Lucrecia couldn't back up as he came at her. "But then, given your genetics, I wonder if that is a sample of your ability."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, of course, you probably didn't know, but the reason I chose you for Project S was that your genetics were similar to that of Jenova's. You had an Ancient somewhere in your family tree, perhaps a great grandparent. Of course your genetics are fairly weak, but they're still useful." Hojo smiled. "We'll start with a low dose of mako to strengthen them. I wonder if that will enhance your precognition."

"Are you even listening to yourself? I don't have any abilities, and certainly not precognition!" Lucrecia snapped. Hojo just laughed and turned to a machine.

"What about your dreams of your son's glorious future?"

"They were nightmares; they aren't going to come true." A partial lie, a part of her mind noted. Her dreams of fire, Sephiroth and Jenova had come true- but in a different timeline.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that . . ." Hojo approached her again with two syringes. Lucrecia resisted the urge to lash out- if she did, she'd lose possibilities in escape, especially if he started to drug her the same way he did Cloud.

**Unknown Location, ?**

Cloud blinked at the flowers that surrounded him. "I'm . . . in the lifestream?" Except instead of endless white, the flowers were growing in a cave. Not that he was complaining, it was a nice change from being in a mako tank in a lab.

"Good guess. You're not just another pretty face, Runt." Cloud turned and saw Weiss leaning against the rocky wall of the cave. Instead of the black hair and Soldier uniform, he resembled the description that Vincent gave after the battle with Deepground.

"You're really dead, then."

"Sort of. It's kind of hard to tell." Weiss shrugged, before smirking at Cloud's look of confusion. "The planet didn't want Omega to be summoned. That drained a lot of power, so, she made sure Hojo couldn't get me. Nero's still in the world of the living, but he's in a coma."

"So, you two did travel back in time. We were wondering."

"Could say the same thing to you- Nero saw you with Vincent when you first came to Midgar, we figured we'd try to keep an eye on you." Weiss's smiled faded. "Of course, we weren't the only ones to come back."

"Jenova?"

"Yeah, and that bastard has some of his memories thanks to his work with mako." Weiss sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"The previous timeline kind of . . . left an impression in the lifestream. The closer you are to the lifestream, the more likely you are to get bits and pieces of those impressions of your former life. It works the same way with past lives, for those of us that have them, and the lives of everyone else, it's the same result, brush against the lifestream, get a bunch of confusing images from a life you don't remember living, and probably get knocked into a coma due to information overload." Weiss glanced around the cave. "It's what happened to Argento, this time around. I don't know what Hojo did with the body. Rosso also got hit, but then, she was already insane, so I guess it didn't make much of a difference."

"I see." Cloud glanced at the flowers. "So why am I here?"

"Well, thanks to all the messes you got into with the lifestream in the previous timeline . . . and the separation of your mind from both Jenova's and Sephiroth's influence . . ." Weiss smirked. "I got to move in to the blank spots the last two left. Well, me and the lifestream."

"Come again?"

"Too fast for you, huh? Okay, let's try it this way, the lifestream likes you, so it's got a pretty good grip on your existence- you probably won't dissolve into the lifestream for a long while, even if you do die. I'm here because I still have to work off my mistake of summoning Omega- never mind that it was technically Hojo- and so I get to help you if Jenova tries to take over your mind. You got really messed up the last time, if you recall." Weiss's smirk got a little bigger. "The planet hasn't been idle, you know, she's been working to make sure you succeed. A bit over kill, considering you and your pack succeeded when you should have failed to begin with?"

"What do you mean, we should have failed?"

"Where do I even start- your memory/identity issues, your girlfriend's habit of keeping quiet when she should speak up, that guy with a gun for an arm has anger issues and is reckless, that pilot also has anger issues and leans towards abuse, Valentine, who has demons literally in his head, that ninja girl, who's spoiled and a kleptomaniac . . . the guy with a robotic cat toy who also used robot doubles of himself, I'm sure there's an issue there, not too sure about the giant cat, thing, but still . . . none of you should have been able to work together for a day, let alone for a decade, and then come back in time and still work together."

" . . ." Cloud blinked. "And I suppose Deepground was better?"

"Point." Weiss admitted. The two lapsed into silence.

"I don't suppose you know what Hojo's trying to do to me?"

"Well, with his messed up memories and Jenova's influence . . . I haven't the slightest."

"When can I go back?"

"Whenever you want, but I'll let you know when you absolutely have to go back."

"Thanks, Weiss."

"No problem, Runt."

. . .

"So, how's your girlfriend, anyway?"

* * *

**There, no horrible cliffhanger, plot exposition, and one very tiny attempt at a romantic moment between Zack and Aerith interrupted by Cait Sith. Next week I'll be back to my once a week schedule . . . though, given that there's only three chapters (two more plus epilogue) left, I might end up finishing this story in two weeks.**

**Please leave a review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**This chapter turned into a monster on me. And I should have known not to get cocky about finishing a story . . . especially when Thanksgiving break was right around the corner- that's time for family, not fanfiction. I can promise I'll finish before New Year's eve, though!**

**A (Random) note on 'Zuruzuru' vs. 'Dilly-Dally': In Japanese, 'Zuruzuru' is the onomatopoeia of something heavy being dragged (Tifa uses it to point out Cloud's still dragging his guilt around). 'Dilly-Dally' on the other hand, means wandering and taking one's sweet time in getting things done. "I dillied and dallied, dallied and dillied," is part of a song about a person who got left behind because he/she was not being focused. It's also applicable to Cloud's situation, as he seems (to Tifa) willing to wander around in his guilt in Advent Children/Complete without getting anywhere. (the Shilly-Shally is just to rhyme with Dilly-Dally)**

**I write this note, because, as I am a natural English speaker, I'm going to be using 'Dilly-Dally'. I've seen both the Japanese and English versions of said movie, but I'm going to with the reference I initially understood, not the Japanese that I had to look up. **

* * *

**Location ?**

Zack stumbled after the rush of using the exit materia, accidentally bringing Aerith down with him. They ended up falling into water, and it took a moment for them to get oriented again.

"So . . . where are we?" Zack blinked as he noticed white glowing trees and a huge structure that looked like a sea shell.

"I don't know . . . I think I've been here before, though." Aerith frowned, trying to remember- oh, it was one of her dreams.

"But you've never been outside of Midgar?" Zack scooped her up and waded across to the structure.

"I know, but . . ." Aerith paused. She had never told Zack what she was, or much of her past, beyond being wary of ShinRa. "Zack, there are some things I need to tell you . . ." Zack looked at her and tilted his head. Aerith explained about her ancestry, why the Turks were guarding her, and her own time spent in Hojo's lab as a child. When she was done, she waited for Zack to say something, but all he did was wrap her in a hug. "Zack?"

"I love you. And I really, really think there needs to be a group that focuses on explaining to people that different isn't something to be ashamed of, because I swear, Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal all thought I was going to freak out when they told me about what happened to them, too." Zack pulled away slightly so he could look at her. "Of course, my 'freak out' technically happened when Captain Highwind gave me the edited version, but that was because I wanted to make sure they were all right." Aerith smiled as her boyfriend looked a little sheepish at admitting that. "Hey, you know what that means?"

"What?" Aerith blinked, not actually following Zack's sudden change in thought. Zack smiled down at her.

"You rescued me, despite knowing what Hojo could do if he caught you, that makes you brave." Zack tightened his hug again, before having another thought. "I thought the princess was supposed to wait for the knight to save her, not the other way around."

"I didn't want to wait another 5 years." Aerith huffed.

"Yeah, sorry about that . . ." Both of them blinked at each other. "Um, that was a nightmare I had . . . how did you?"

"I dreamt that . . ."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"Me either." The two fell into silence for a moment, before Zack decided he'd had enough of sitting down.

"Come on, let's go exploring, we're going to need shelter for the night at least." Aerith nodded, and Zack realized he didn't have materia or a weapon. Something of what he was thinking must've showed on his face, because Aerith giggled.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." She mimicked the heroic pose that he'd done with the Umbrella when they first met, and the two dissolved into laughing. "Hang on, though, I need to call Tifa, let her know where we ended up, she might know where we are."

"Sure thing- wait, Tifa, like Cloud's girlfriend though he keeps claiming she isn't his girlfriend?"

"Uh-huh, Vincent Valentine put me in contact with her after he found me, he said it would be good for me to have friends I could talk to."

"She knew you were half-Cetra?"

"Yes, about . . . ten years ago, not long after my mother's death, the planet did something . . . it woke up some sort of special awareness in several people, a couple with dormant Cetra genes. They all knew who I was, and I could tell who they were." Aerith shook her head a little. "It was weird, suddenly being able to talk to people who knew about me, but wanted to protect me because I was their friend, not because I was the last Cetra." She noticed Zack looking a little surprised. "Zack?"

"Ten years ago . . . I started having nightmares. I had good dreams, too, but I had a lot of nightmares where things would just go wrong . . . they faded after a while, but they always came back when I got my Mako injections . . ." Zack gave a soft laugh. "It's probably not what you're talking about, and I haven't given it much thought, cause, you know, dreams are just weird, but it's a weird sort of coincidence . . ." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Then let's not worry about it, we've got a city to explore- after I call Tifa." Aerith reminded herself.

Tifa told them that they were in the Lost City of the Ancients/Cetra, and that they were near Bone Village. She also directed them to a weapons cache that Vincent had apparently left behind, where they found some spare materia and a sword for Zack, and a new staff for Aerith.

With that taken care of, the two spent the next few days exploring the city, which extended underground, and getting Zack back into fighting form.

"Huh, I wonder where these open to?" Zack pushed open an ornate door, frowning a little as he noticed it was a large cavern- with a fissure in the floor where the lifestream flowed. The blue-green light was caught and reflected by crystals in the cavern walls.

"This is amazing . . ."

"Yeah, but . . . what was this room used for?" Zack glanced around again, noticing a particularly skilled (and probably bored, for that matter) craftsman had ornately carved even the stalactites and stalagmites.

"I have no idea." Suddenly the entire room shook, and the door slammed shut. "Oh!" Aerith blinked, eyes wide as the planet started speaking.

"Aerith?" Zack reached out and grabbed her hand. "Talk to me, Angel."

"It's a testing room . . . the Planet wants to test us."

"With what?" Zack got his answer a second later as the fissure widened, and something huge shot out of it and the lifestream, filling up the cavern. "Aerith, what is that?"

"I don't understand . . . Why test us with the Ultimate WEAPON?"

"Aerith, now's not exactly the time to question the Planet." Zack turned to look for the door, but either the door was designed to look exactly like the cavern wall from this side, or the Planet made the door vanish. "Duck!"

* * *

**Rocket Town**

Cid absently lit his cigarette, trying not to smile, as he leaned the wrapped lance against his shoulder. He hated politics with a passion, but he wasn't half bad at using them, now that he knew how and had decided to take an active part in this second chance. Not to mention, he had liked getting one over on Rufus this go round, not that the former/future president of ShinRa had complained when he found out.

Sephiroth had left a bunch of Soldiers in Rocket Town, and the entire town, which was mostly mechanics and engineers, had been made aware of what the Soldiers had found out. The relations between the town and the Soldier program were very good, as Cid and Sephiroth were known to be friends.

Which was why Cid was trying not to laugh as Palmer made his way, sweating like the ! pig he was, over to him with the assurance that the Soldiers that were acting as his escort were on his side. Hopefully, one of the engineers was taping this.

"Captain Highwind, it's good to see you . . ." At this point a crowd was starting to gather round out of curiosity. Though most were doing a pretty poor job of pretending to be working.

"Palmer, what brings you out of your office?"

"Well, times being what they are, you know, I thought it would be better to speak in person."

"Times being what they are?" Cid 'accidentally' exhaled a little more smoke into Palmer's face. "What do you mean?"

"Due to budget cuts, we're going to have to cut the space program." Every single engineer and mechanic in earshot froze. A few of the Soldiers shifted, now uneasy. "Also, ShinRa is going to have to let you go."

"What!" A female engineer nearby yelped. "You can't do that!" Cid thought her voice was familiar, and hid his smile with a grimace when he recognized the speaker. He hadn't gone looking for Shera, after everything that had happened the first time, though he hadn't really actively avoided her, he just didn't speak anything but work when he was around her. It was nice to see her standing her ground. Though what the heck was she doing with a tea kettle? Cid brought his attention back to Palmer.

"My dear, I am the head of department, so I can." Palmer was probably trying to be kind, but it came across as Condecension.

"You're not the head of anything, lard-bucket." Cid grinned. "You should have looked at my contract when I renegotiated it last year."

"What?" Palmer looked at him.

"Because according to it, and the new agreement made with the Mayor of Rocket Town; I'm officially the town's landlord, and the actual head of Air and Space." Cid's grin turned a little more feral. "It's all a little complicated, but the bottom line, since ShinRa's pulling funding and firing me, Rocket Town and our entire department, are coming with me. We're independent of ShinRa now-" Cid let the rag fall off the head of his lance, as he pointed it towards Palmer. "And you're no longer ! welcome in this town, lardass."

"You need ShinRa's funds!" Palmer protested, actually squeaking a little.

"No I don't- the money from my flying shuttle service, the fact ShinRa has to pay us for any more planes and helicopters, and the tourist industry, are enough to keep funding us for a ! long time."

"I am the head of ShinRa's Air and Space! Seize him!" Not a single Soldier or grunt moved.

"Sorry Palmer, those grunts are here for training as pilots, and the Soldier's are here because of a deal I made with Sephiroth." Cid grin was starting to hurt. In some ways, this was a lot more satisfying than how he got one over Palmer the last time. "I suggest you ! leave. I'll even be ! nice and have someone fly you to Costa for half-price."

" . . . What . . . No!" Palmer cried out. For a tub of lard, he was actually pretty fast on his feet, and grabbed onto Shera, waving a gun frantically. Cid stopped his swing just before he accidentally cut open Shera, and swore.

"He's got a gun?!" One of the Soldier's stared in disbelief.

"I won't let you get away with this!" Palmer yelled- which promptly turned into a scream of pain as Shera dumped the still hot contents of the kettle on him, before hitting the ground. Cid didn't hesitate to use the blade, cutting Palmer's arm to the bone making him drop the gun, before his mind caught up to his actions and he spun the lance to hit Palmer's head with the shaft and knock him out.

"Someone lock that crazy F!er up!" Cid barked, crouching next to Shera who was still on the ground. "You injured?" Shera blinked up at him, her face having gone white.

"Um . . ." She held up her arm, which had also gotten splashed with the liquid from the kettle. He let out a sympathetic hiss at the sight of the burns.

"What the hell were you ! doing, anyway? A damn kettle is used for ! tea." He used Cure, watching as color returned to her face.

"One of the machines got frozen, I was going to use the water to thaw it out." She let him help her up.

"Idiot. Let's get you checked out." Around them, the news was spreading that the town, and everything in it, was now independent from ShinRa. Cid ignored them, steering Shera towards his house.

He was leaving. He was going to pick up Barret in the Highwind, as well as any others, and they were going to search the world over if they had to, but no more of this stupid spilt-up shit.

To paraphrase Tifa: No more ! Dilly-dallying. He was going to get the Highwind, (he already knew Mama Strife was going to come, for two reasons, 1, he might trust the town, but he didn't trust ShinRa, and 2, she was still a target if Hojo found out she was still alive and changed his mind about her usefulness) and go as soon as possible.

* * *

**Corel (Two Days after events in Rocket Town)**

Myrna Wallace was in shock. She didn't know what to think . . . her husband had come home from meeting the airship that had landed, and told her . . . such a fantastic story.

She hadn't taken it well, she wasn't sure what she said, though she was pretty sure she called him a liar, right before rushing out of the house and running to her favorite hiding spot.

Myrna was still there when Mama Strife found her.

"Barret told you?" Myrna nodded. "I thought he'd never tell."

"You believe them, then?" Myrna looked over at Mama Strife. The petite blonde pulled out a picture.

"My son." It was a little boy with the brightest blue eyes lit up in laughter. "And this one was taken after they claimed to have come back in time." Mama Strife handed her a second picture. The same little boy, but while the eyes were still bright blue, they weren't lit up- it was like they belonged to a much older person. "He had changed, call it a mother's intuition, but I knew they weren't lying." Myrna met the other's eyes. "The worst part? In the future my son lost most of his memories. He barely even remembered me because of what that scientist did to him. So when they came back in time- he still barely remembered me. It took a couple of weeks for him to stop defaulting to treating me like a stranger." Myrna felt a deep pang of sympathy for the older woman who had sent her and Barret recipes and cookie tins, as well as marriage advice on the days when the two had an argument, and gently wrapped her arms around the other woman's shoulders. "You're lucky, you know. Many men would claim that if they went back in time, they would still marry their wives- your Barret actually did that."

" . . . He's going off to fight, isn't he?" Myrna realized, now that the pain of feeling like she had betrayed had died down.

"And to save my son." Mama Strife looked at her. "You could come with us, you know, I'd like . . . having someone there." The older woman smiled. "I could use some ideas on lecturing my son, I'm sure you could use a few with lecturing Barret."

"Oh, I already know what I'm going to do to that foo'." Myrna helped the other woman up. They were greeted by Barret when they finally got back to the house, the big man looking a little uncertain, and even a little scared as he looked at his wife. "I'm going to forgive you on two conditions. One, you're not getting any from me for about a week, two, I'm coming with you." Myrna almost changed her mind about the first condition when she saw how relieved Barret was.

Mama Strife smiled sadly as she left the two as they hugged. She hoped that someone called in with good news about her son soon. She was getting a little too old for this excitement.

* * *

**City of the Ancients**

Angeal landed in the strange city, absently studying the map on the PHS. Aerith's PHS was still transmitting from here, but . . . something was putting him on edge.

"Well, staring at it isn't going to find the lad and lass." The Cait Sith that Reeve had sent with him jumped from his shoulder to the ground. "C'mon, let's see how they're doing . . . of course, we might have to close our eyes . . ."

Angeal rolled his own eyes at the cat's implication, before following him. The tracking system still worked underground, and Angeal wondered how Reeve had managed to make that work. Most ShinRa PHS would have very shaky service underground, though the radio function would work just fine.

"Huh, I've never seen this door before." Cait Sith tried to push against it, but gave up in favor of letting Angeal get it.

Stepping through, both man and robot-cat dove out of the way of an energy blast.

"This is getting ridiculous!"

"Zack!" Angeal called out, slightly relieved to see his student.

"Angeal? What the hell?" Both Aerith and Zack quickly ran over. "How'd you find us?"

"The door closed again." Aerith groaned.

"Reeve sent me." Angeal glanced at the monster, which had temporarily retreated the lifestream fissure to heal it's snout. "I was going to leave ShinRa anyway, this just gave me an excuse to do so sooner."

"Right, well, we're not getting out of this room until we beat that thing- Cait Sith, do you have a weapon?" In answer the cat waved its Trumpet Shell.

"Can use materia as well, laddie, now, let's put this wee beastie down."

"Move!" The group scattered as the weapon, now healed, fired another shot of energy at them. Angeal quickly used his wings to get above the creature as Zack hit it with a Firaga. With the four of them working from different angles, they were able to deal quite a bit of damage, and Zack took advantage of its attempt to raise its head to bite Angeal to go for its throat.

The roar was deafining, and Angeal quickly dove to the ground, wincing as the sound messed with his inner ear.

"Zack!" Aerith yelped as the weapon used one last attack, which hit Zack and broke the sword he'd been using. Aerith once again unleashed her limit break which healed the others as she rushed to Zack.

"Ow . . . did someone get the number of that train?" Zack sat up, wincing. "Oh, crap, please tell me it's not healing itself." The weapon was back at the fissure, except this time, it crawled back in, dissolving into the lifestream, but leaving behind a sword.

"There's the door!" Cait Sith shouted, and Angeal winced again, hearing still a little sensitive as he dismissed the wings and placed the Buster Sword on his back. Aerith helped Zack up, and he quietly moved to pick up the unusual sword.

"Well, at least it was nice enough to offer a replacement." Zack joked, transferring materia from the broken sword too the new one.

"Do that later, get out of here before She decides to test us again!" Cait Sith shouted again.

"I'm going to agree with Cait." Aerith tugged on Zack's arm.

"Alright, alright." Outside of the room, all four jumped as the door slammed shut. "So . . . now what?"

"I'm going to go let Reeve know we found ye, and to check on the status of the search for Cloud." Cait explained. "Yeh're all going ta go ta sleep, and when ye wake up, I'll let ye know what the others have found."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Zack glanced at Angeal, who now that the fight was over wasn't really looking at him. Zack mentally noted he'd have to talk to his mentor, after they got to some place where they could rest without being attacked by something.

* * *

**Caves, Banora**

Genesis had no real idea about what he was doing in Banora, let alone back in these caves. It was like . . . something had called him back to this place.

He had told Gillian what they had discovered, and had gotten Soldiers stationed in Mideel. Now, he wasn't sure what to do. It didn't take him long to find the place he was looking for.

"'Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest.'" He muttered, voice carrying in the cavern where the statue of the goddess was.

"Loveless, Act 1." Genesis whirled, Rapier in hand. "You're still quoting that thing?" He stared in shock at the familiar young girl, wearing shorts and a tank top with a hood, and carrying a large shuriken.

"Princess . . ."

"Seriously? I told you to call me Yuffie." She grinned. "How have you been?"

"I thought you were in Wutai." What was she doing in Banora of all places?

"I left. I didn't agree with the alliance between my father and Avalanche, that Fuhito guy smiled weird, especially at me." She crossed her arms. "Of course, no one else listened to me about how Fuhito was bad news, so I decided I'd leave and find a way to end the war this way- it's gone on long enough."

"If you're planning on using me for leverage, it won't work, I'm not part of ShinRa company anymore." Genesis felt a little amused, or maybe it was disturbed, at the little princess's guts to even attempt such a thing.

"I know, I know Seph and Angel left too." Yuffie smiled at him. "I know lots of things, like Vincent the Vampire-Wannabe, and Cloud and Mama Strife." Genesis stared at her in shock, though his expression was slightly closed off. "He visited, during the war, he wanted to keep an eye on you because you were Seph's friend, he gave me a PHS so I could contact him, in case we needed to get you out of the country all-together."

"Valentine got children involved? I understood the two that found him-"

"Well, I might have found him trying to infiltrate the castle, and I might have threatened to scream if he didn't tell me anything." Yuffie noted Genesis' look. "He wasn't going to shoot me, and I am a genius, so I understood most of what he told me, so I volunteered to keep him informed about what happened in Wutai." Yuffie used the mix of truth and lies that the group had spent hours messaging each other so that they could keep their stories straight. "So, you're no longer with ShinRa, want to help me find Cloud and possibly kill or maim Hojo? You also owe me a flight!"

"I don't- did Vincent tell you about that too?" Genesis absently reached up to touch his shoulder.

"Nope, Mama Strife did, she wanted to make sure it wasn't the result of some Wutaian curse." Yuffie smiled. "So, you're going to take me flying sometime, right?"

"I promised." Genesis gave a small smile. "Hero's don't go back on their word." Yuffie grinned and ran forward to hug him. Genesis stiffened, before awkwardly returning the hug.

"Good! Oh, before I forget, I'm traveling with someone, and I want you to promise not to attack him, okay?"

"Okay." Genesis blinked as a shadow near the entrance of the room moved, and all he could do was continue to blink at the red-furred creature with its tail on fire. Not that the last bit seemed to bother the creature in question.

"Hello, Commander Rhapsodos, it's a pleasure to meet you finally." Genesis was a little unsure what he should even say in reply- mostly because he wasn't expecting the creature to speak.

"Pleasure to meet you, I think . . . what's your name?" Yuffie giggled, before letting go.

"This is Nanaki, Guardian of Cosmo Canyon, he's also aware of your situation, and agreed to help."

"How many people did Vincent bring in on this?"

"He didn't bring us in, we volunteered, and it's quite a few." Yuffie grinned, before going serious. "Genesis, there isn't a lab or anything in Banora, is there? We've already checked out Mideel, but it doesn't look like Hojo has a lab there."

"No, there isn't- you're looking for Cloud?" It had taken Genesis a minute to have his train of thought catch up to what was going on.

"Well, yeah, Hojo's got him, that's bad news, and being an awesome ninja, I plan on rescuing him." Nanaki gave a slight growl-cough. "We, I mean, _we_ intend to rescue him."

"Does that include me?"

"If you want to help, sure!" Yuffie grinned.

"Just keep a weather eye on your materia, she has a habit of stealing the ones she thinks she doesn't have." Nanaki smiled, showing teeth, even as Yuffie launched herself at him.

It took a bit for them to emerge from the tunnels, and Yuffie and Nanaki's PHS chirped with missed messages.

"Oh, new messages, let's see . . . well, Cloud's friend was found, and they were able to get him out of the lab, and Angel has finally gone AWOL." Nanaki studied his. "Still no sign of Cloud or Dr. Crescent, however."

"Damn. Cid's going to pick us up, we're too spread out for us to react if something does happen." Yuffie noted. "Well, guess that makes sense, I wouldn't want to end up in a lab."

"Me either." Nanaki stretched, and sniffed the air.

"That makes three of us." Genesis noted.

"So, will you take me flying while we're waiting?"

* * *

**Kalm**

"Damn it." Legend blinked as Tifa studied her PHS. "Then again, Hojo didn't have a lab in Junon, Fort Condor, or here, so maybe we should regroup . . ."

"Huh?" Tifa looked up at the Turk, who, so far, had proven to be a valuable ally, if a bit of a flirt. "I can never tell if you talk to yourself or me when you do that."

"Oh, sorry." Tifa typed a message back. "Don't you have to report in at somepoint?"

"Eventually, but Rufus said I was going off the grid on this one, partner, so I don't have to give a report until the mission is over." And oh, what a report that would be. First off, the miniature Cait Sith doll was actually a small robot used for hacking into computers, it could only meow, but if you removed the cape and crown, could shift its joints in a slightly disturbing manner so that it resembled an ordinary cat.

Secondly, his Partner had no qualms sabotaging some of the lesser projects that Scarlet had going on. Third, she was dangerous and while she hadn't enjoyed it, had had no qualms killing a bandit that tried to kill her. Which, while that meshed with the whole 'mercenary' idea, went against her actual age that she'd told him, unless she'd started when she was young- like maybe three.

Oh, and not to mention the fact that she knew company secrets that made Legend feel disgusted, not helped at all by the email (plus attachments) sent to him by Veld informing him of the danger within the company that he had started out by hating (what do you know, he was right the first time, not that he regretted anything, but still . . .) and Lockheart confirming that Valentine had taken her under his wings when she was a child.

Legend had been right, this mission was getting more and more complicated as time went on, and he was enjoying this.

"I'm not a Turk."

"Nope, but you're still my partner on this." He grinned at her.

"Right . . . Speaking of Turks, looks like we got a couple suits." She gestured out the window. Legend got up, and frowned.

"Looks like Tseng and . . . Shuriken, or whatever she calls herself." Legend scowled. "Anything else we need to do here?"

"Nope, unless you need to talk to them."

"If we run into them, I will, if not, then they don't have to lie."

* * *

Tseng felt uneasy, walking through Kalm, Cissnei just behind him. Heidegger had requested their help capturing two criminals, and he was praying to the gods of his childhood that it wasn't Zack Fair or Aerith Gainsborough. Or any of the suddenly missing firsts, though Lazard was claiming ignorance of what had happened to Hewley.

"Good, you're here." Heidegger grinned. Tseng kept his face blank. "Here's the most recent photos." If Cissnei hadn't been looking over his shoulder, Tseng would have missed the soft hiss that the woman gave. He couldn't blame her, though.

The pictures were of Legend and Tifa Lockheart.

"What have they done?"

"We've got footage of them tampering with one of Weapon and Safety's joint projects, need to know only, but they're clearly working for Avalanche. They're good at falsifying their records, too." Heidegger laughed. "Not good enough to escape ShinRa, though!"

"If that's true, I'd like to recruit them for the Turks."

"Sorry, but the President has already agreed to execute them." Heidegger laughed. "That'll send a message to those Avalanche scum!"

"It certainly will." Tseng glanced at Cissnei's insincere smile, not missing her sarcasm.

"We'll start looking for them." Tseng chose to get both of them out of there, before Cissnei did something she regretted. Heidegger nodded, and started bossing around the grunts with him.

"Tseng?" Cissnei moved to catch up as Tseng began dialing on his PHS. She cut her question off as the phone was placed to his ear.

"Sir, I just found out that both Legend and Lockheart are to be captured and executed." Tseng wasn't sure if he was angry at Rufus for not telling them, or himself for not keeping better tabs on the two.

"Rufus just notified me. Do your jobs, however . . . Legend is known for getting out of tight spots without leaving a trace to find."

"I understand." Tseng hung up. "Cissnei, we'll do our jobs, but it's going to be difficult . . . Legend has that codename for a reason."

"Yes sir." Cissnei nodded, following him as they began searching.

Both had hoped they wouldn't run into either of them, but they ended up meeting at a junction of alleys.

"Legend, Lockheart . . ."

"Let me guess, you're here to kill us?" Lockheart adjusted her bag. "Rufus alerted me already."

"We're Turks- and what were you thinking?"

"The prototypes weren't on Scarlett's budget, even her top secret one, and they weren't on Heidegger's either. They were from Hojo." Lockheart sighed. "Heidegger and Scarlett were only consultants."

"I see, that explains the execution order, then."

"So, how should we do this?" Legend shifted, ready to fight if he had too.

"The way I see it, two options- You fight Legend and 'discover' that he's been under Manipulate/Confuse while I disappear . . . or I put you both asleep because we never had this conversation and Legend and I sneaked attack you before you could react." Lockheart offered.

"ShinRa might execute me anyway, since this could be seen as me returning to my terrorist ways." Legend pointed out.

"It's better not to risk it." Tseng agreed.

"A pity this alleyway looks empty." Cissnei gave a crooked smile. A second later, both collapsed, asleep, and Legend and Tifa took off, easily escaping Kalm in a buggy.

They were picked up by the _Highwind_ several miles out.

* * *

**An Abandoned Hunting Lodge, Somewhere between Modeoheim, Icicle Inn, and Nothern Crater**

A lone helicopter flew over a white expanse of snow, before landing next to a old dilapidated lodge. In the next moment, the helicopter began to go underground. It took a few slow minutes, but eventually the helicopter vanished from view and a steel plate moved from under the snow to cover the hole. In a matter of seconds, the steel was covered by snow, blending in to the landscape.

"Clever set up." Vincent noted.

"And no one would look twice at it." Sephiroth agreed, wincing as the wind started to pick up. "So how do we get in?"

"The lodge- they'd need a second exit in case ice froze up the helicopter pad." Sephiroth followed Vincent.

Most of the lodge had been gutted, but the inside was far nicer than the outside. A little too nice, for something that should have been abandoned. It took a few minutes, but they found what they were looking for in the basement. A polished wooden lever and a patch of clean wood.

" . . . They need to work on this, it's a bit too obvious." Vincent sighed. The two moved forward, and moved the lever, making the clean patch of floor sink down into the ground with a soft groan.

This time, it was Sephiroth who felt annoyed, there were no guards at the exit, and there should have been. There was even a chair that was meant for a guard, except dust was currently sitting there, instead of a human being. "We're walking into a trap."

"Possibly." Vincent agreed, absently checking both Cerberus and Death Penalty. "Let's keep going. If there's a trap, then it has to has bait."

"Strife and my mother." Sephiroth nodded. They made their way down the hall but soon found a place where the hallway split.

"We'll have to split up, the instant you find either Lucrecia or Cloud, get out, and don't bother checking on me. Same if you find Jenova, expect leave the fossil and run, Hojo's notes implied something might happen if you're in the vicinity of the fossil."

Sephiroth nodded, and the two separated.

Vincent moved as quickly as he could through the hallways, any personnel he found were quickly killed, he couldn't afford to have them set off the alarm.

Opening the door to yet another lab, his eyes landed on the Mako tank, and more importantly, the blond inside it. "Cloud . . ."

His friend was shirtless and had tubes sticking into him, which lead out through the top of the tank and ran to a machine, which then had more tubes leading back into the tank. The main problem was going to be getting Cloud out of the tank without him getting tangled or even strangled by the tubes when the tank was emptied.

Well, he'd have to be quick, and hope he didn't damage Cloud by taking him out of the tank. It took a few minutes to bypass the lock holding the tank, and Vincent ignored the mako that almost knocked him off his feet in favor of getting into the tank and supporting Cloud.

'_Just when I think I can't hate Hojo anymore than I already do . . ._' It was more than a little sickening to see close up how the tubes went into Cloud's skin, and then Vincent realized he'd have to get them _out_. "Cloud, it's Vincent, I'm going to get you out . . . I'm sorry, this is going to hurt." Vincent tried to be as gentle as he could removing the tubes, but he couldn't stop them from accidentally tearing the skin a little as they came out. Vincent was finding himself a little relieved that Cloud hadn't woken up yet, but that left the question of why Cloud was out of it. '_Please, let him just be sedated, not comatose._' "Last one." He pulled the tube out, and then suddenly got thrown out of the tank. He slipped on the mako-covered floor, then almost went down as his friend all but tackled him, though he was able to keep both of them from hitting the ground, though Cloud was already trying to hit him again. "Cloud, it's me! It's Vincent!"

"Vincent?" Cloud stopped his blind attack, mind finally catching up to him.

"I'm here, I'm real." Vincent was struck by yet another worry, which was what if Cloud had lost his memory again.

"Oh, What took you so long?" Vincent let out a soft huff of laughter.

"My apologies." It wasn't what you were supposed to do to someone covered in Mako, but Vincent cast Cure anyway. They didn't have time. "Sephiroth's with me, he defected from ShinRa when he learned that Lucrecia was kidnapped by Hojo, the others are on their way." Cloud stiffened.

"Jenova's here, Hojo took Lucrecia to see if there was a reaction . . ."

"Your shirt and armor are over there," Vincent spotted the objects on the shelf, Cloud's materia bracer was there as well, and his sword was leaning against the side of the shelf, just out of sight. "Can you fight?"

"We're going to find out."

* * *

Sephiroth felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach as he continued down his chosen hallway, which hadn't had any doors and kept leading down. Finally though, he could see were it opened up, and he slowed his steps.

The hallway ended in a natural cavern, with more than several metal catwalks at various heights, which as far as he could tell served no purpose except as places for the soldiers and troopers to walk on during guard duty and metal grating over the dirt floor. On the farside, he could see a small group of scientists in front of a tank, and two guards holding a familiar figure.

'_Mother . . ._' Without even thinking, he moved forward, the useless and apparently poorly trained guards were cut down, a few having the platforms they walked on cut out from under them. That freaked out the scientists, a few that quickly ran away. Sephiroth ignored those, though he didn't hesitate to kill the ones that tried to shoot him.

"Sephiroth!" Lucrecia blinked in shock, before trying to struggle out of the two guards' grips. One of the guards let go to try and shoot her son, and she stumbled. '_Dammit, why can't I stand on my own still?_'

"Perfect! Just Perfect!" Hojo laughed, and Lucrecia yelped as he grabbed her arm, catching her hair as well. "Sephiroth, stop!"

Sephiroth stopped- after killing the idiot who tried to shoot him. "Hojo . . . let her go."

"No." Hojo laughed. "Did this creature tell you that she was her mother? If so, that's a false claim, she was merely a convient womb."

"If you're going to tell me that a 2000 year old fossil is my real mother, you're more of a fool than I thought." Sephiroth kept his focus on his real mother. "Let her go, and I'll think about sparing your life."

'**My son . . .**' Sephiroth flinched at the sound of a voice in his head. Hojo's laughter began again.

"Jenova is speaking to you now, I knew she would!"

'**Fight for me, my son, destroy those that hurt you!**'

"Sephiroth, don't listen to them, Run!" The trio of voices, one within his own head, drove him to his knees.

'**Destroy!**'

_Angeal Hewley, that's Genesis Rhapsodos . . . Would you like to join our spar?_

_We seek it thus, and take it to the sky . . . Believe it or not, you're my friend, so try not to die._

_I'm Yuffie . . . will you play with me?_

_Name's Cid Highwind, Captain . . . you need help, so I'm going to help you . . ._

_Hi, name's Zack Fair, I'm going to be a hero! . . . Need help with killing Hojo, then?_

_Vincent Valentine, former TURK . . . I'm sorry I couldn't save you or Lucrecia . . ._

_Oh, good, you made it . . . Good morning, would you like some pancakes?_

_Sephiroth . . . my son . . .I'm so sorry . . . I love you._

_Cloud Strife, General, Zack's new roommate . . . Need me to pass on a message?_

"Sephiroth, please!"

'**Destr-!**'

"Shut up!" Sephiroth opened his eyes, mentally shoving that voice to the back of his mind as it turned to a shriek of rage. He was on his feet in the next second. "I'm human, not a weapon, and I'm not going to play your sick games anymore Hojo!" He raised Masamune, but a red blur moved between him and his target, and he mentally cursed for leaving himself open as he was run through.

"Vhat a shame, I vas hoping zat I could have some fun." A red-head in a red SOLDIER uniform smirked at him. "Zuch a shame . . ." Sephiroth glared at her, and she yanked out the odd shaped sword so it purposefully widened the wound. Sephiroth felt his knees hit the ground. "My name iz Rosso, tell zat to ze Devil vhen you zee him."

'_Genesis would be cursing me out right now._'

"Sephiroth!" Lucrecia wasn't even aware of her stomping first on Hojo's foot, then kicking the guard in the shin as she broke away, adrenaline finally kicking in. She landed on her knees next to her son and caught him as he started to fall to the side. "Sephiroth, hang on."

"I'm honestly disappointed, all this time and hardwork, and you won't accept your destiny!" Hojo sighed. "Oh well, at least I can re-use Crescent to get another perfect child . . ."

"I'd sooner die." Lucrecia actually growled.

"Oh, spare the melodramatics." Hojo waved a hand.

"Look who's talking." Two very familiar voices spoke in unison, and Hojo gave a cry of pain and outrage as three bullets hit him. Rosso dodged a sword strike from Cloud, before the two locked blades. The poor guard didn't stand a chance as a second shot killed him outright, and Vincent moved in between Hojo and Lucrecia and Sephiroth. Cloud and Rosso broke out of their hold, Rosso moving to stand next to Hojo, as Cloud backed up to join Vincent, who was casting a Curaga on Sephiroth.

"You won't win, we have Jenova!" Hojo shouted, and began to mutate before their eyes.

"We're supposed to care?" Cloud asked, making Vincent and Sephiroth chuckle a little.

* * *

**Slums, Midgar**

Deneh and Shears moved through the slums as quickly as possible, hoping to get to the Avalanche base in Midgar. No one in the slums gave Deneh a second look, assuming her to be Shears pet.

"So, we find the girl, figure out how to remove the materia, and hope ShinRa doesn't kill us and that the Ravens haven't gotten to her first, right?"

"That's the plan . . . oh, crap." Shears paused. "Before Fuhito died, he and Godo sent out a strike force that was going to blow up Midgar's reactors."

"There are a lot of people here, that will kill them."

"Yeah, no kidding . . ." Shears looked around. "And if the ravens summon Zirconide, that will kill whoever is left."

"On the other side, that would be a blow to ShinRa."

"Aye, but you'd be considered criminals and killed on sight if ye don't try to help the innocent." Both jumped as a cape and crown wearing cat hopped out of the trash nearby.

"You . . . I know you. I know that scent." Deneh blinked. "Reeve!"

"Hello, Deneh, it's been a long time." A new voice came out of the cat. "This is Cait Sith, a special robot. I saw you were here so I sent him to meet you. I heard what you were talking about, is there anyway I can help you?"

"There's a girl, name's Elfe according to Fuhito's notes, she's got a materia fused into her arm."

"I know who you're talking about, she works for me. I'm a member of an organization that seeks to fix ShinRa from the inside, but, well, we've run into a few snags, would you be willing to help us?"

"I don't trust ShinRa."

"I'm not ShinRa, I'm a man trying to do the right thing. Look, I'm going to send someone to the Church in the Sector 5 slums, there are flowers growing in it, they'll be there all night. We'll help you shut down the reactors without endangering innocent lives, if you're interested in really saving the planet."

"We'll think about it."

"That's all we ask fer, Laddie! I'm Cait Sith, by the way!" And the robotic cat disappeared.

* * *

**Next up, we've got a Shinra power struggle, and an epic set of final battles.**

**Followed by an epilogue and a chance of a **_**Short**_** sequel.**

**As always, please, leave a review, I'll get the next chapter up when I can.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yeah, Holidays- and several of my friends have birthdays around Christmas. Why did I even bother with saying when I will update?**

**Surprisingly, it wasn't the battle scenes that gave me the most trouble, just the stuff leading up to them, as well the transitions. I cut a few things out, some of which will become one shots.**

**Please enjoy.**

**ShinRa Tower, Midgar**

To say that ShinRa was in a frenzy over the revelation that not only had Air and Space been effectively, and legally, removed itself from the company, but also most of Soldier- save for one squad which currently was guarding the director- would have been severally understating the problem.

Not to mention the news that Sephiroth, prior to his disappearance had taken out most of the Soldiers stationed in Wutai, and the few that remained had gone missing. There was a temporary ceasefire, but that could change.

Veld was trying to think of the last time he had ever seen the President so mad.

"And you knew nothing of their plans?"

"They didn't tell me anything about what they were planning. General Sephiroth, as you're aware, has equal standing in terms of how Soldier is run, he could move troops as he pleased." Lazard kept his face straight, wishing he had the helmets that the Soldiers did.

The three firsts had informed him of the information that they had found, and Lazard had been more than willing to work with Cid Highwind to get SOLDIER out of ShinRa.

The problem being, though, that they couldn't get all of SOLDIER out, he'd had to stay behind with a squad in order to give the illusion that nothing was wrong, and give the rest of them all time to hide.

"I see, and the rest of you?"

"We're at war sir, it's not uncommon for people to get transferred suddenly." One Soldier responded, and was promptly backed up by the rest. "We just go where we're told."

"Veld, I want all these men locked up until we can find out what is going on." The President ordered, a couple of the Soldiers tensed.

"That's understandable, given the situation, and we'll comply." Lazard glanced at the two, who promptly relaxed, and nodded. "But I think there's someone else you should be looking at."

"Oh, and who's that?"

"Professor Hojo is missing." Lazard stood. "I went to discuss the newest rounds of injections, but his assistant said he's been gone for about a week, and I think we all remember his argument that Soldier was exclusively his concern."

"Yes, yes, get them out of here!"

* * *

"Well, sir, that went well." Lazard looked at the young man he was now sharing a cell with.

"Okay, who's the idiot that designed the cells? I can hear you guys." Another Soldier growled in annoyance, stopping Lazard from replying. "The holding cells in Wutai have better sound-proofing."

"Like listening to you is something we want, Sergeant." Groaned someone else.

"You want to start something, green horn?"

"No one is starting anything." Lazard interrupted. "We need to stick together on this."

"Sorry, Director." The Sergeant and the Greenhorn chorused. The soldier Lazard was sharing with laughed.

"What's so funny?" Another Soldier asked.

"Sorry, I just . . ."

"Hey, share the joke, man."

"Well, for a moment, it sounded like the director was a mother scolding her kids for not playing nice- sir." The Soldier added, a little embarrassed, Lazard just smiled as the other soldiers also snorted or laughed.

"Given how many times I've had to tell the lot of you not to goof off in the hallways, I'm not surprised."

"So, now what?"

"We wait, we've still got a few allies."

* * *

**Sector 5 Slums**

"Flowers . . . the planet is so weak here, and yet these are growing." Deneh studied the plants. Shears stood behind her. A couple other Avalanche members and Wutai spies stood by.

"The last Cetra tended them, until she had to flee." The two turned, a young woman approached them. "I'm Felicia, also called Elfe, It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Shears. You're in danger-"

"Actually, my boss has already re-hidden the support materia once he heard they were coming for me. They'll be sorely disappointed." Felicia smiled. "But thank you for your concern."

"Why are you here, then?"

"You wish to destroy the reactors- that would cause quite a few innocent deaths."

"Perhaps, but casualties happen in war." One of the Wutai soldiers retorted.

"There's been enough death, and anyone who dies near a reactor has the potential of becoming fuel for it. You'd just end up fueling the other reactors." Felicia moved forward. "I can teach you how to disable the reactors, so no one will notice that they've been tampered with until they stop working."

"What's the catch?"

"You can't kill. Disable only." Felicia let out a breath. "We'll have an agent in each reactor, they'll help cover for you if you need it."

"Why should we trust you, you're ShinRa."

"I joined ShinRa because I felt I could do better by changing it from the inside." Felicia retorted. "Whether you agree to this or not, our agents will be shutting down the reactors- we've already shut down most of the outlying reactors, it's just these left. We'd much prefer to do so without losing anymore lives. I survived the destruction of Kalm when ShinRa chose to sweep it under the rug, I've seen what the dark part of the company can do, but if you want to have any chance at rebuilding, we still need the symbol it represents to the ignorant person."

" . . . What aren't you saying?" Deneh moved forward, annoyed at how Shears was remaining silent.

" . . . It's like this . . ." Felicia began.

* * *

**ShinRa Tower**

Rufus had his eyes closed as he leaned back in his chair, trying to stave off a headache. Lazard was in holding, along with the remaining Soldiers, and the President was already considering giving them to Hollander. The Turks were scrambling to deal with both the Rocket Town Split and the Soldier Desertion. The regular troopers under Heidegger were of two minds- some were thinking of following the Soldiers, in particular, Hewley, Raphsodos and Sephiroth, some were already hating the absent soldiers, and the rest just wanted to pretend nothing was wrong.

This, again, wasn't exactly how he thought things would turn out. He'd planned for the it to look like he had been giving the orders sending away orders, that his brother had just been a sap that was being played. He'd thought for sure that his father would turn on himself, first, as the black sheep and troublesome heir.

Felicia had left hours ago to deal with Avalanche and get the reactors shut down. Reeve was holed up somewhere, coordinating movements between the groups as best as he could. Rude and Reno were with Tseng, who was checking up on Kunsel and Shotgun.

The problem was that his father needed to be removed from power, and he needed to take control of the company.

Years of planning and manipulating from behind the scenes, and suddenly, he was out of time and nothing to show for it. He couldn't outright kill the man, because as crappy of a father that he was, he was still technically Rufus's father, and it would not help ShinRa's image if he killed the man in cold blood- no matter how tempting it was.

He couldn't poison the man, either. He needed to keep his hands clean (well, as clean as they could be between his last life and being a turk), and that meant he couldn't order a hit on the man as well.

"Sir, the President wants you. Now." His Secretary sounded slightly annoyed.

"On my way." Rufus headed to his father's office. He'd have to think of something, quick. Nothing came to mind, it was a short walk to the President's office from the VP office.

Inside, Heidegger, Scarlett and a beat up Palmer were waiting. Heidegger looked like he was about to have a stroke, while Palmer just looked miserable.

"We're missing a couple." Rufus moved round to stand by his father.

"They're on their way." President Shinra scowled. As he finished speaking, Veld and Reeve walked into the room. "Everyone has heard of the situation with Soldier and our Air and Space department?" the group gave short nods. "Then you know the situation is intolerable, and must be fixed no matter the cost."

"I have just the prototype, not even Sephiroth could beat it." Scarlett purred. "I could send it after Highwind."

"I can easily take control of Soldier once we get the men back, mix them in with our troopers." Heidegger grinned. "They'll obey me, once Deusericus is out of the way."

"Yes, I'm sure they will." President ShinRa leaned back. "But that leaves the matter of who is loyal to ShinRa, to me." Heidegger and Scarlett quickly responded that they were.

"I'm loyal!" Palmer huffed.

"My job is to watch out for you, sir." Veld's answer made Rufus blink. That . . . didn't sound like an oath of loyalty to him.

" . . ." Reeve didn't respond, and everyone noticed immediately.

"Tuesti, I believe you have something to say-"

"Sir, members of Urban Development are aiding Avalanche members!" The intercom interrupted, and Reeve straightened.

"I believe that is my answer."

"You traitor!" Rufus had no idea where Scarlett had been hiding the gun, but she rapidly fired it at Reeve.

"You idiot! We needed him alive for questioning!" Rufus snapped at her, surprising almost everyone. "Think before you shoot next time."

"He looks like he's still alive." Veld crouched next to Reeve's body, and began to lift him to get a better look at the man's wounds. Instead, Reeve's body broke up into pieces, and a cape and crown wearing cat sprung out.

"Weel now, that wasnae polite of ye, lass!" The cat was positively grinning. "Reeve sends his regrets, and resignations of the entire department of Urban Development!" The cat dodged another blast of Scarlett's gun, and quickly cast Sleep, leaving only Rufus and Veld awake.

"Cait Sith, what are you doing?"

"Better if ye donnae know, lad- I believe you and Veld took cover over there to avoid mah spells." Rufus took the hint, and grabbed Veld, pulling him to the spot Cait indicated, just as the cat shot into the vents and Reeve's false body exploded.

"Looks like you're in command, now."

"Get a medical team up here . . . and as far as I'm concerned, it's obvious that Reeve and several Urban Development members have been kidnapped and forced to help Avalanche." Rufus muttered, making Veld smile in amusement.

"Not going how you planned?"

"Do things ever go exactly as planned?"

* * *

**Hojo's Hidden Lab**

Sephiroth cut through several tentacles that tried to reach his mother. Vincent fired Cerberus, making the monster that was Hojo turn towards him.

Cloud, meanwhile, was fighting Rosso. Rosso wasn't powered by the mako suit, and she was also younger and less enhanced. It didn't make her any less dangerous, though, Cloud noted as he dodged backwards, her sword cutting through the fabric of his shirt and skin.

Sephiroth blinked as suddenly, he was seeing double, with a headache that was borderline a migraine hitting him with the force of a Bahamut. He might not be listening to Jenova, but it was getting harder to block her out. _Kill Hojo, then deal with Jenova, Kill Hojo._ The mantra helped, though he was pretty sure that Jenova was just messing with him.

* * *

Rosso laughed as she beat the summon Cloud had sent, aiming to disarm- by literally cutting off her opponents arm- when she suddenly lost her breath due to pain in her chest. She blinked down to see Cloud's sword sticking in her. "Vhat . . . ?"

"Sorry about this, but I don't have time to mess around." Rosso didn't get a chance to reply as she was electrocuted by a thunder spell. As she was tossed back and off the sword, her last thought was how much she wanted to go another round- then she hit something and everything went black.

Cloud didn't pay attention to Rosso after he threw her. There wasn't time- Sephiroth was starting to have trouble keeping up with the tentacles. Without stopping to do more than cast a simple cure on himself, he threw himself into the fight.

Sephiroth retreated as Cloud took over, still trying to blink away his double vision. He knew he probably should run, just in case Jenova did something, but he very much doubted his ability to tell left from right at the moment.

"-ephiroth!" He blinked up at his mother, wondering when he had ended up on the ground. "Please, keep fighting her, don't give up!" Sephiroth couldn't really respond, but he did let go of his sword, before curling up as ice picks stabbed at his skull. He hung on as tightly to his sanity as he could- and that was all he could do.

"Sephiroth's down." Vincent noted, jumping next to Cloud after getting hit by a stray tentacle/claw. "And another hit like that one, I'll be losing control."

"Know which one?" Cloud sent out another summon.

"No." All of them were clamoring to be let out, to fight and tear at the monster that had technically tormented all of them. Wordlessly, the two dodged apart, but Vincent got hit.

Cloud was very relieved when he didn't see Hellmasker show up- out of the four, that was the only one that freaked him out.

Grant it, Chaos wasn't much better, but Chaos belonged to the planet. Hellmasker . . . wasn't normal.

"Tch, No matter what lifetime, you're still an annoying insect." Chaos literally tore into the creature that was Hojo. "This time, you won't get a chance to come back." The creature screeched and pulled away, getting off a few good hits before Cloud caught it by surprise. Chaos turned back into Vincent, who unsteadily pushed himself up.

The creature wavered, and turned back into Hojo, who swayed a little unsteadily on his feet. "Jenova . . . will," he coughed, and apparently his mind had kept going despite his mouth not forming words, "but I'll take my prize now." He lifted a gun, but three shots hit him- one to his head, the other two to his heart- and he slumped to the ground.

Vincent and Cloud turned to the shooter in surprise. Lucrecia was holding the Death Penalty, and glaring at the dead man, standing protectively over Sephiroth.

Sephiroth blinked, the gunshots reaching him despite the headache, which was dissipating as if it had never been there in the first place, and focused on his mother as well. "Nice shot."

" . . . I should have done that years ago." Lucrecia put the safety back on the rifle.

"Better late than never." Cloud glanced at Vincent, who was still staring at Lucrecia in surprise. "Vincent, are you alright?"

"I'll recover." Vincent got to his feet. "Let's get out of here, Cid should be arriving soon, we'll figure out a way to deal with Jenova then."

"Right." Lucrecia shifted on her feet, looking a little unsteady. Vincent steadied her, as Cloud helped Sephiroth up.

"Let's get you out of here, General." Sephiroth nodded, leaning heavily on Cloud.

It took them a while to get back out of the place, and they had to take out several guards who apparently just realized that the base had been infiltrated. Cloud found himself trying not to smile as Sephiroth muttered under his breath about poor training and how Genesis would have had a field day with the imbeciles.

Of course, by the time they make it to the lodge, Cloud was beginning to falter- adrenaline and stubbornness could only go so far, after all, before real life came back into the picture.

Vincent was expecting the Highwind to be waiting just outside the lodge. He wasn't expecting the tiny blur that all but tackled Cloud and Sephiroth.

"Cloud! Sephy!"

"Yuffie?" "Princess?" The two soldiers blinked down at the shuriken wielding girl.

"Looks like Cid made a few stops on his way to get us." Vincent noted.

* * *

The reunion on the Highwind was slightly chaotic, to say the least. Mama Strife immediately began fussing over the four of them (mostly her son) and there were some people there that Sephiroth had never met before.

And others that he was sure were supposed to be somewhere else.

"Angeal? What are you- you found Zack?" Sephiroth blinked at where Zack and a girl with brown hair were talking to Cloud.

"He was in ShinRa tower, apparently. And Cid picked us up in Bone Village." Angeal absently rolled his shoulder. "Things are apparently really chaotic at ShinRa right now."

"That's putting it mildly." Cid commented as he passed.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Sephiroth didn't see who asked the question, but the group quieted down.

"Let's deal with Jenova, that's our priority right now." Cloud glanced at Highwind. "Is the rocket ready?"

"No, too many delays."

"Why don't we just destroy her here?" Genesis asked.

"Because, that gives her the chance to taint and control the lifestream." Aerith responded. "And she'd be able to control anyone with her cells."

"We'll have to think of something."

"Right . . . how long until someone comes our way?"

* * *

**ShinRa, Midgar**

"Alright, Palmer was killed in the blast, which is no great loss, Heidegger is still hanging on to life, but he could go either way, and Scarlett is temporarily in a medical coma." Reno listed as the he landed the Helicopter. "Reeve is currently missing, probably kidnapped and that's why Urban Development is helping Avalanche, Deusericus is in a cell, Hojo is also missing, and the President is . . ."

"Also in a coma." Tseng supplied. "And will remain that way until they are sure he is stable, Vice President Rufus will take over as acting President."

"Works for me." Reno shrugged. Rude remained silent as they headed to the conference room.

It took all Rude had not to fidget, feeling that something was wrong, but not knowing what or where. He could block it out and function just fine, but it was like an itch in a hard to reach spot.

When they arrived, and made it past the squad of grunts stationed outside, it was to a very crowded room. Rufus had released Lazard and the Soldiers, and had apparently invited the Avalanche/Wutai team to talk. There were Urban Development members scattered throughout, and a giant, cat/wolf like thing that was a little too close to Rufus for Veld's obvious comfort.

"What the hell were you thinking- no, wait, you never think!" And to Gun going off on her sister, sporting a very fetching black eye.

"I think more than you do!" Elena retorted, her overall appearance was scuffed, and she had a matching black eye

"Ladies, now is not the time to argue about this." Rufus sighed.

"What's going on?" Reno had attempted to ask Rod, who was looking as confused as he felt, but his voice ended up carrying.

"Quite simply, damage control- this Avalanche and Wutaian group was captured in the act of sabotaging the reactors, and Tuesti is nowhere to be found." Rufus sighed. "So far, we haven't found something to agree on, and we need to hurry."

"What's the rush?"

* * *

**The **_**Highwind**_

Sephiroth absently rubbed at his temples, trying to deal with a quick information dump that, had it been given at any other time, would have made him doubt his sanity.

As it was, finding out that a group of people had an 'awareness' of each other awakened ten years ago made Highwind's willingness to listen to Princess Yuffie's demands of playing a lot more understandable, and it explained better why Cloud and Tifa went into the mansion in Nibelheim as children- they had 'known' that Vincent was there, and wanted to meet someone else like them.

"Headache?" Sephiroth blinked at the fugitive Turk who held out a bottle of pain reliever.

"A little." Sephiroth admitted. "You're taking this well."

"I knew something was off about the girl Rufus asked me to help. The scary part is that I actually believe them." Legend leaned against the wall. "I've seen some crazy shit as a turk, so that helps- Sephiroth!" Sephiroth had suddenly pitched forward, hands gripping his head. Legend caught him before he hit the ground.

* * *

Out on deck, the former members of Avalanche swore as something exploded out of the ground.

"Tell me that wasn't what I think it was." Yuffie grabbed onto Cloud's arm.

"It was Jenova." Cloud followed the fast moving silver dot.

"How the hell is a _fossil_ moving?" Barret demanded.

"Let's go ask." Cid grinned, and moved to pilot the _Highwind_.

"Cloud, come with me for a minute." Vincent and Cloud left the deck as Zack and Aerith joined the others.

"The weapons are awake." In the airship, they couldn't feel the earthquake, but they definitely saw the weapons shoot out of the crater- and send Jenova away from it.

"That's six- I thought one of them was water only?"

"Given how little we actually know about the Weapons, is that really surprising that they can all fly?"

Angeal and Genesis joined them as the Airship caught up to the weapons, which were flying around Jenova and attacking.

"We can't take all of them." Barret noted.

"Focus on Jenova, we need to weaken her for the planet to deal with." Aerith spoke up, but her gaze was miles away as she listened to something no one else could hear.

"And the reactors have all been shut down, so they won't go after them, hopefully."

"Reeve?" Genesis blinked at the other man. "When did you get here?"

"I've been here for a while, actually, I left a double behind to take care of things while I helped Cid." Reeve absently checked his materia bracer. "Lucrecia is taking care of Sephiroth, I think he's out for this fight."

"We're coming up on them now." Cid had left the piloting to a young and promising pilot, and had brought his lance out with him. "We can use the weapons as moving platforms."

"Let's move on out then." Cloud and Vincent returned, Cloud with multiple swords strapped to his back. As one of the weapons flew by, Cloud, Tifa, Vincent and Cid jumped onto it.

"Hmph, I guess there's no help for it, then." Genesis called out his wing, and was copied by Angeal.

* * *

Tifa ran along the weapon's back, aiming to get a clear shot at Jenova. The fossil had apparently managed to reanimate, even missing the bulky head piece/tag. It's wings were silver, and while it wasn't actually talking, Tifa was pretty sure it would have been telling them something along the lines of 'pointless to fight'. Cerberus was already sounding as Cloud summoned Bahamut. A shuriken flew past, nicking Jenova's wings, as Yuffie cheerfully ran past, catching the shuriken and firing a fire spell. Genesis dove at Jenova from above, Rapier partially slicing through a wing before Jenova hit him with something that resembled black smoke, but apparently packed quite a wallop as it sent him tumbling back. Cid took that moment to attack Jenova from behind, ramming his lance into her back- Jenova let out an unearthly screech and twisted, throwing Cid off and into empty air. Angeal caught him, setting him down on another Weapon before aiming to attack Jenova as well.

Jenova let out another unearthly screech, and several black things shot out of her, turning into monsters that promptly attacked the weapons and those that were on the weapons.

Aerith fired out several spells, and was quickly defended from a monster by Tifa.

Reeve, still on the deck of the Highwind, summoned Odin. Cait Sith, on the other hand, was riding Nanaki backwards so that he could guard the other's back.

Zack and Cloud both attacked Jenova at the same time, Cloud quickly connecting different swords to the base sword. Both were blasted back as Jenova screeched again, but were caught by Jade Weapon quickly looping down to catch them. Zack got back, blinking at the sword in his hand as it seemed to shift a little.

Cloud, meanwhile, felt his head go fuzzy.

'_You know, I probably shouldn't do this, but we need to finish this soon, Runt._' The Jade weapon suddenly changed course, heading straight for Jenova. The lifestream, or some offshoot of it, swirled around Ultima in Zack's hand and Cloud, who blinked at the appearance of a chain mail sleeve on his left arm, and some armor covering his left leg. He felt a little dizzy still, but focused on attacking Jenova.

_Weiss, what the heck?_

'_I can still channel some of Omega's power, and since I'm in your head, I can give you that power too, now focus, Runt._'

Aerith blinked, feeling the planet surge around her. Tifa looked at her in confusion. "I have to do something, will you watch out for me?"

"Always." Barret joined them, firing at the monsters that tried to get too close. Aerith knelt down on the back of weapon they were on, and closed her eyes, connecting to the planet.

Jenova screeched as Chaos gleefully made his appearance, tearing open her front. However the next time she screeched, it was far more gleeful sounding.

"Aerith, look out!"

"Sephiroth!" Angeal and Genesis froze up as Sephiroth descended on Aerith- and then suddenly, twisted in mid-air, a lone black wing extending from his back and flapping in one powerful burst, so his blade went through Jenova instead.

Sephiroth had no real memory of how he had gotten off the _Highwind_, his only real focus being that if he pretended to listen to Jenova for a bit, he could then attack her when she stopped giving him a migraine.

It had been close, but the victory of running the fossil through was worth the sudden onslaught of pain. Unfortunately, the mental and physical pain she caused him meant that he couldn't do anything but get flung off and out into the open air.

Sephiroth watched as Cloud and Zack once again attacked, this time with Genesis,and felt when Angeal caught him. He also saw the weapons and everyone else, start to glow.

And then, everything turned white.

* * *

_. . . must go . . ._

_No._

_He . . . C . . . amity_

_No. OURS._

_. . . Very well . . ._

Sephiroth blinked, trying to clear the white from his vision, only to realize he was staring at a wing. "Angeal . . ."

"Seph." Angeal's wing moved, and then Angeal was helping him to sit up. "Thank Gaia . . . I wasn't sure . . ." Angeal shook his head. "That was too close."

Sephiroth managed a nod, at which point his senses completely rebooted and he realized two things: One, he was cold, and two, he was in quite a bit of pain.

"Angeal, Sephiroth!" Both looked over as Genesis came over, limping slightly. He looked a mess, there was snow frozen in his hair, but there was no hiding his relief at seeing both of his friends there. He knelt in the snow on Sephiroth's other side, and quickly cast a cure spell, which relieved Sephiroth of some of the pain, but not all of it. "Any idea where the others are?" Sephiroth ignored Angeal's response in favor of actually looking around. They were surrounded by snow, and it was snowing pretty heavily, making almost everything white.

He was starting to get sick of snow.

"There's a light over there." Sephiroth noted, making the other two look. There was indeed a light shining through the snow.

"Well, a good place to start as any." Angeal's wing vanished, and he replaced the Buster on his back, before picking up Sephiroth.

"I can walk."

"With that amount of damage, no you can't. I can't heal you because I'm almost out of magic as it is." Genesis smirked. "Angeal's carrying you, _Sephy_." Sephiroth glared at him, before a burst of cold made him lean into Angeal. As the trio began walking they heard a shout.

"Oh, look, the puppy found us." Genesis noted, deadpan.

"Very funny, Genesis." Zack was carrying Aerith, who was shivering almost uncontrollably.

"You two are okay?" Angeal asked, stopping Genesis from retorting.

"Yeah." Zack nodded, and then adjusted his grip as Aerith shivered. "Sorry, let's get you out of the wind, huh?" Aerith nodded, looking at the other three firsts with a very miserable expression.

"Hang on." Genesis easily removed his coat, and draped it over Aerith, who immediately wrapped it around herself.

"Warm." She muttered, cuddling closer to Zack. Zack smiled at her then started moving. In a surprisingly short time, they made it to the light- it was the _Highwind_. It had landed, and the figures on the deck waved at them.

In a blink, they were all inside, warming up after being in the cold.

"You made it back!" Mrs. Strife looked relieved, even as she wrapped Genesis into a blanket. "Are the others behind you?"

"They're not back yet?" Zack looked up from where he was all but glued to Aerith's side. Angeal was between him and Genesis looking slightly torn as to who he wanted to check over first, now that Sephiroth was in his mother's care.

"No." Lucrecia shook her head as she finished healing Sephiroth, gently wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Reeve and Myrna are still watching- we've only got Reeve's assurance that they're alive."

" . . ." Zack looked out the door, as if he was about to get up and go looking himself. Angeal took that moment to drop a blanket on him.

"Easy puppy, let's get warmed up and our strength back before we go looking."

"Puppy?" Aerith blinked, before looking up at Zack. "He's kind of big to be a puppy."

"He's got the attitude of one." Genesis smirked. "Have you heard about the time he got tangled in training rope?"

"No, what happened?" Aerith looked over at Genesis with a smile, placing one hand on Zack's mouth so he couldn't interrupt.

"We have no idea, one minute, he was supposed to be coiling it to put away, the next, he was so tangled up, it took a good hour to get him untangled." Genesis smirked as Aerith burst into giggles.

"Zack- How?"

"I was trying to untangle it. I don't know how I got tangled instead." Zack smiled, though he was still embarrassed.

* * *

"Uhh . . ." Cloud blinked, before attempting to get up. "Whoever's on me needs to move."

"Can't, Nanaki's on me." Yuffie returned, as cursing heralded a certain Pilot returning to consciousness.

"Watch that ! claw of yours, Vincent!"

"That's not Vincent, that's me." Tifa snapped. "Barret, hold still!"

"Whel now, this is a dog-pile if Ah ever saw one."

"Cait, either help or shut up." Vincent growled from his position at the bottom of the pile next to Cloud. After a long few minutes where everyone did their best to keep from accidentally cutting up each other, they finally separated.

"Everyone here?" Cloud glanced around. Cait Sith, Tifa, Vincent, Barret, Cid, Yuffie, and Nanaki looked back at him.

"Looks like we're all here." Nanaki noted.

"The others are back on the _Highwind_." Cait Sith jumped onto Barret's shoulder.

" . . . We won." Tifa's statement made them look at her. "We won, no more Jenova!"

"We did, didn't we."

"Yahoo!" Everyone began to smile- even Vincent began to smirk as Yuffie did a backwards sommersault. "Hell yeah, no one can beat us!"

"Did Jenova pick the wrong planet or what!" Barret grinned, pumping his right arm. Cid clapped Vincent on the shoulder, before being tackled by Yuffie, who had decided everyone needed a victory hug, having already gotten Vincent and Cloud. Tifa threw her arms around Cloud, who hugged her tightly in return, though they were almost knocked to the ground as Nanaki, in a moment of playfulness chose to 'hug' them as well.

It took a long moment for them to sober up, but they could still feel the high of victory.

"Alright, let's mosey on back to the _Highwind_ before we all freeze."

"Do you have to say mosey?" Cid groaned. "Seriously, we need to ! talk about your ! use of that word."

"You have no right to lecture me on language." Cloud pointed out, before suddenly swaying.

"Cloud!" Tifa tried to steady him, but only managed to control his fall to the ground.

"What's the ! matter with him?" Barret demanded, as Cid swore.

"We just got him out of the lab is what's ! wrong." Cid growled. "He was running on adrenaline."

"Everyone shut up!" Vincent growled, kneeling next to Cloud, and they obeyed. "Cloud, can you hear me?"

"Shit!" Yuffie pointed, Cloud's arm was glowing green, a few tiny sparks vanishing into the air. Barret picked her up. For a horrible moment, they thought Cloud was going to fade into the lifestream.

Instead, the green separated from Cloud, before hovering nearby, and briefly they saw the familiar figure of Weiss, who smirked at them before vanishing.

"Cloud?" Tifa looked at the man in her arms.

"I'm here, not going anywhere." Cloud winced, now feeling very sore. "That was . . . different."

"No shit." Cid growled. "We're going back to the _Highwind_ and you're going straight to bed rest!"

"I'm with Cid- you okay brat?" Barret noticed that Yuffie was shivering- as was Tifa. Vincent slipped off his cloak, giving it to Tifa, as Cid, grumbling about idiots who didn't dress properly, wrapped Yuffie in his jacket. Nanaki quietly moved over, and Yuffie climbed onto his back.

"Alright, lads and lassies, we go this way!" Cait Sith pointed, and the group began to walk, Cloud being supported by both Tifa and Vincent.

Their reunion on the _Highwind_ with the rest was short, and fairly subdued as adrenaline finally faded, but there was one moment that managed to gain back some energy.

Lucrecia slipped away from Sephiroth with a smile, before running to Vincent who caught her almost reflexively in a hug. The look of shock on his face as she pulled him down into a kiss would later make Cid burst out in laughter at the memory. Though that was nothing compared to the whistles and cheers that followed when Vincent got the sense to kiss Lucrecia back.

"About damn time." Cid grinned, Reeve chuckled.

"He's almost as bad as someone else I could mention."

"If this is about who I think it is, I'm going to punch you out." Cid informed him. Reeve just smiled, catching Cait Sith as he jumped into his creator's arms.

"As you wish, I'll drop it." Cait Sith purred as Reeve rubbed behind his ears.

"You'd better." Cid then moved to ascertain the damage to the _Highwind_, if any, Reeve following. "Well, It's going to take a little under a day before we can go anywhere, with the shape the people are in."

"Of course . . . I believe Rufus has things well in hand." Reeve gently checked the scorched arm on Cait Sith.

" . . . What do you know that we don't?"

"The official story is that President had a heart attack when he learned that not only was Hojo dead, but half of his company was going to split away. Palmer, Scarlett and Heidegger had an unfortunate accent in Scarlet's lab, leaving Plamer dead and the other two critical. Rufus has taken over while the president gets medical attention, but with his health the way it is." Reeve gave him a tired smile. "I wouldn't be so sure of a full recovery."

"Finally come over to the dark side?" Cid smirked.

"No, I just compromised on a few key issues." Reeve sighed. He'd kind of hoped they'd deal with the president and the others legally, he hadn't enjoyed sending Cait, or the robotic double to deal with them.

"Well, we'll make sure you don't go too far."

* * *

**Phew . . . done. Next chapter is going to be the epilogue, and hopefully, I'll get it out sometime this month.**

**Please, leave a review, and if I've managed to confuse you on anything- well, the answer will be in the epilogue or my reply, depending on how many times I get asked a question. :}**


	20. Chapter 20 Epilogue

**Still don't own. An now, the-**

**Epilogue**

**ShinRa Tower, Midgar**

"My father is stepping down, wishing to enjoy his retirement in peace. I am going to be stepping up as president in the next few days." Rufus gave a slightly humorless smirk. "Which leaves me in need of a Vice President."

Lazard looked over at his half brother. "If that's an offer, I'm not interested."

"I had a feeling you'd say that- why not?" Rufus moved to sit next to him.

"I won't deny I thought about it, but I think I would prefer being in an advisory position- and stay in Soldier." Lazard leaned back. "Besides, Reeve Tuesti would be a better choice, people actually know and like him- and you've been thinking of picking him, anyway."

"Am I that obvious?"

"You forget, brother, I know you." Lazard gave him a look.

Rufus gave him a genuine smile at that. "That you do."

"On the topic of family though, I did some digging." Rufus blinked, unsure. "You go back a generation . . . Strife's mother and our father are cousins by blood . . . our grandfather married Mrs. Strife's aunt. He's not actually our brother."

" . . . And here I thought you were going to keep your nose out of his business." Rufus gave a small smile.

"You knew that, so why did you say he was our brother?"

"I promised I'd look out for him, when I realized I couldn't . . . I figured you'd be able too. Besides, I didn't want to be the youngest." Lazard didn't know what to make of that statement, so he just shook his head.

"Next time, trust me a little more?"

"I'll try." Rufus looked at the clock. "Time for an executive meeting . . . I wonder how well they'll take it?"

"Given that Palmer's dead and you fired Heidegger for embezzlement . . . Scarlet probably won't pull anything." Lazard sighed.

* * *

Reeve sighed, looking out the glass elevator.

"Something wrong?" Veld looked at the other man.

"Nothing, just a little tired- Mini Cait and the other two Cait Sith units decided to play tag last night."

"I'm taking it they weren't exactly quiet?"

"Mini Cait got a hold of a megaphone. It didn't end well." Reeve sighed again. "How is Felicia doing?"

"Alright, I think she's enjoying her new job." It was Veld's turn to sigh. "I'm getting too old for this."

"I don't think you're ever too old for change."

"Hmph, we'll see . . . you still haven't explained how you made that double of yours."

" . . . You mean when I changed places with it? Not long after Hewley left. I thought it would be a good idea to make myself scarce, in case things went wrong." Reeve gave a wry smile.

* * *

"You know, you've never actually said why you all came back in time. Just that you had to." Lucrecia looked at where Vincent was leaning against the wall.

" . . . Time travel was stumbled upon, or will be, roughly a decade from now. No one did anything with it at first, but the idea was something that got tossed around . . . and then things started to happen. People would lose track of time, things would disappear and reappear . . . and then people started disappearing, or remembering things that didn't happen." Vincent glanced at his gauntlet. "Cloud and Tifa had taken in some orphans, as well as looked after Barret's daughter Marlene- one of the children disappeared right before their eyes, and the other children didn't even notice. We knew someone had gone back in time, but we didn't know when or how far.

"The incidents were happening everywhere, and people began to riot in their confusion- some tried to kill Reeve. We made plans to jump back as far as we could, but there was no guarantee that we would all make it, or even make it past whoever made the changes in the first place. We went to Banora as the riots started up again, and made the jump." Vincent sighed. "There were a few more of us that tried to come back, but I guess that they disappeared or forgot what they were doing and didn't make it."

" . . ." Lucrecia got up and hugged him. "I'm glad you made it . . . and I'm glad you got me out of that crystal."

"Me too." Vincent returned the hug, catching sight of the clock. "You're going to be late." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Dinner later?"

"With or without Sephiroth?"

"With, but just for dinner- after, on the other hand . . ." Lucrecia smiled. Vincent returned it, and passed her the crutch that she was using as she still tired out easily while walking.

* * *

Cloud smiled as the monster disintegrated into pixels. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed this fusion sword . . . which, now that he thought about it, still lacked an actual name.

He'd have to work on that.

"Nice work, Strife." Cloud stiffened, glancing over in surprise.

"General . . . what are you doing here?" Sephiroth moved away from the wall.

"I've been thinking about that battle with Jenova . . . there was a moment when everything became white and I heard voices arguing." Sephiroth glanced at his shoulder. "Hojo . . . Hojo called Jenova my 'mother', and I have more of her cells . . . her genetics, than any soldier or any other living being. The Planet . . . the planet wouldn't have cared about that, am I right?"

" . . . What you couldn't see was the Weapons turning into a jeweled prison for Jenova. Hojo was forcibly pulled from where he was- the lifestream rejected him- to join her." Cloud met Sephiroth's eyes. "The Goddess tried to add you as well. Genesis and Angeal resisted first . . ."

_He must go as well._

_No._

_He is of Calamity._

_No. He is OURS._

_Very well, we shall spare him._

"Then I owe you all my freedom." Sephiroth was confused as Cloud shook his head.

"No, General, you don't owe us anything. Just . . . don't waste your chance."

" . . . Thank you, Strife."

* * *

"Tell me you're joking." Genesis looked up from his book, Angeal failed miserably at hiding his amusement.

"No, Zack's going to ask Aerith to marry him today."

"He's . . . kind of young, isn't he?" Genesis blinked.

"I said that, he just muttered something about not wasting any more years and shot out of here to meet her." Angeal gave him a wry smile. "He asked her mother's permission, apparently."

"At least some of your honor talks seem to have stuck." Genesis smirked, recovering. "You nominated him for first, didn't you?"

"Yes . . . he's lucky the Vice President was one of the ones who also has that 'awareness' or whatever."

" . . . Goddess save us . . ." Genesis suddenly froze in horror, making Angeal tense.

"What's wrong?"

"What if he reproduces?" Angeal couldn't think of a thing to say, so he just threw a pillow at his red-haired friend.

* * *

"This is beautiful." Mama Strife smiled at the Villa Cloud had purchased in Costa Del Sol.

"At least he picked a better name this time, 'Wolf's Den' sounds much better than 'Villa Cloud'." Tifa stretched as she finished unloading yet another box. "Then again, we didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to come up with a better name, and it stuck . . ."

"And it's warm here." Mrs. Strife smiled. "So, Cloud and you were . . . married?" She looked at Tifa.

" . . . Last time, it took years to get all the records sorted out so people could start get marriage licenses and certificates, especially in Edge. After Meteor, a lot of people didn't want to waste time, so they just started living together, even if they had previously been married to someone else." Tifa shrugged. "Cloud and I started living together, and well, we had some . . . issues."

"Nibelheim burning, plus five years of experimentation and then almost a year of thinking he was someone else only to be proven wrong would do that." Mama Strife agreed, laughing at Tifa's look. "I've been looking after Lucrecia, remember- I had Vincent get some books on psychology, especially in regards to Trauma. It wasn't hard to realize all of you had some elements of PTSD." And that wasn't something that got cured right away- it took years, and included various degrees of relapses and difficulties, and not everyone ever recovered from it.

"Yeah, well, there was that, and we sort of adopted several kids . . ."

"You slept together then?"

"Sometimes- things just kept happening, and Cloud was often gone on deliveries or missions . . . it wasn't exactly a stable relationship."

"Did you two date anyone else?"

"A few times, we always ended up back together, though." A couple of them had been good people, too, but things never worked out and that wasn't mentioning the couple of times the people they'd dated had actually been out to kill them or get revenge for Avalanche's actions or ShinRa's destruction. (The worst had been Reeve's stalker, though.)

They could probably write several books on everything that had happened to them. Not that they hadn't gotten some downtime in between incidents, but still, none of them had had boring lives.

"You love him, though, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't see any reason why you two shouldn't be together this time. Vincent and Barret are enjoying their second chances."

" . . . We'll see," Tifa's PHS went off and she answered it without thingking, "Tifa here- what? Aerith, slow down . . . Zack did what?" Mama Strife reached out to steady Tifa as she rocked back on her heels. "You're joking! Planet, that's wonderful!"

"What is it?"

"Zack asked her to marry him! She said yes! –Does anyone else know yet?" Tifa was grinning. "You have to call Yuffie, she'd kill you if you didn't let her know yourself." Mama Strife smiled, listening to Tifa's excitement. "I'd be honored, let me know when you're going to start planning, and I'll come over."

* * *

"Almost seems like a waste, starting the construction and running all those tests, but not finishing." Myrna came up behind her husband, who was studying the reactor.

"Actually, Reeve's already gotten things figured out so it won't go to waste . . . none of the reactors will." Barret chuckled. "We're going to use windmills and solar energy." Myrna leaned against him. "We just have to remodel the existing reactors, and then, we won't be hurting the planet. I already know where some oil fields are, and we can use those as well." Barret smiled down at her. "I never planned for the reactor to be using mako for long, this way, though, the town didn't get destroyed."

"That's going to take some getting used to." Myrna smiled up at her husband. "Eleanor wants us to come to dinner, by the way."

"Then let's not keep her waiting." Barret had a sneaking suspicion that he knew why Eleanor wanted them over. He was proven right when, in the middle of the meal, Dyne stopped eating.

"I can't hold out anymore- Elle and I have some great news!"

"What?" Myrna perked up as Dyne and Eleanor held hands.

"We're going to be parents!" Myrna squealed, all but tackling Eleanor in glee.

"Way to go man!" Barret slapped Dyne on his back.

"Boy or Girl? Do you know yet?" Myrna demanded. "When is it due?"

"Eleanor asked for it to be a surprise, actually. The doctor figures she's about 3 months along already, so about six months or so?"

"How on earth did you not notice for 3 months? One or two I could understand." Barret winced, he remembered how this conversation went the last time.

"I've been so busy lately, and you know how sometimes stress effects-"

"SO, we were hoping you would be this one's godparents." Dyne interrupted before the conversation veered off into womanly matters. Myrna promptly squealed again, hugging Eleanore with an enthusiastic 'Yes!'.

"We'd be honored, man." Barret grinned.

* * *

"What's got you in a good mood?" Cid looked at the royal pain in the neck who had tackled hugged him from nowhere.

He had agreed to fly ShinRa's new ambassador to Wutai, better known as Felicia, and had ended up staying a few days for some well deserved R&R. Most of Avalanche had retreated to either here or Cosmo Canyon after Jenova was removed from the planet, searching for political sanctuary.

"Don't you check your messages?" Yuffie huffed in annoyance. "Aerith's marrying Zax the puppy, and Barret says Marlene's going to be born soon."

"Oh, that is good news." He didn't even bother correcting her pronunciation of Zack's name. It was how the Wutaian people seemed to pronounce it anyway, and was sort of amusing.

(Same way it was amusing to hear their pronunciation of 'Cloud', 'Kurado', though he was pretty sure Yuffie started that in retaliation of Cloud misspelling her name all the time- though they all did it, cause his spelling was what stuck.)

"And Genesis sent me a message to let me know that he nominated Cloud for first class." Yuffie added.

"First class for real, huh? Guess things didn't turn out to horribly this time afterall."

"Yeah, nothing actually went to plan." Yuffie didn't wince at the reminder that she had failed spectacularly at stopping the war from happening- and had technically made it go on for longer. "Nanaki's got some ritual in Cosmo Canyon, but he'll be heading to Costa soon."

"Yeah . . . Deneh's going into some sort of Stasis, right?"

"Maybe. Nanaki's technically already done this, and it does directly tap into the planet, so it might not be too long before Deneh's out." Cid suddenly had a bad feeling, and a glance at Yuffie confirmed it.

"What?"

"Oh, I think you know what, old timer, but since you're mental faculties seemed to have degraded recently to not being able to take a hint- you need to ask Shera out!"

"For the love of- did Reeve or Mama Strife get you in on this?"

"You like her and it's obvious she likes you- she can't form a coherent sentence and she turns bright red- heck, you two were all lovey-dovey last time once you got your head out of your ass, so I don't see the hang up!"

"It's none of your damned business, brat!"

"It's the White Rose of Wutai's job to make sure her friends are happy! And we all know Shera makes you happy in your own cranky way!"

"Just drop it!" Cid tried to leave the room- only to have to start running when the very persistent princess started to chase after him.

"Hell no, I know your balls didn't drop off, so you're not getting out of this! You have to ask her out, at least!" Felicia and Godo watched the two run past, both having no clue on how to arrange their expressions.

"My daughter . . . is trying to act as a matchmaker?"

"I think so . . . your majesty." The two ran through the hall behind them, still yelling at each other, this time with more expletives.

" . . . I need to talk to her about diplomacy again." Godo decided.

"Set someone else up!" Cid's shout came a few seconds before the pilot almost ran into them, though except for a quick pause to bow, he didn't slow down.

"I'm still trying to figure out how to get my dad out of the country to meet her!" Yuffie retorted, still on his heels.

"What?" Godo stared after his daughter.

* * *

Nanaki quietly studied himself in the mirror, and then let out a soft sigh. It was so odd, having both eyes open, and not having the tattoo of the numeral XIII on his shoulder. Deneh came up behind him.

"I think I understand why you're so loyal to those humans." Deneh tilted her head. "They're not perfect, they don't always listen . . . but once they think of you as their packmate, they don't let anyone hurt you if they can help it."

"We can put off the ritual, you know . . . Humans don't last long, compared to us." Roughly ten years from now, Reeve's hair would be graying, Cid's knees would ache so bad he could no longer run and jump, Barret's arm wouldn't be able to handle the strain of firing large bursts, and Tifa's punches would start losing more and more of their strength.

Grandpa Bugenhagen would have died by then, and Deneh, for all her cat-like nature, really did care about the old man.

" . . . I would like that, very much." Deneh rubbed her head against his shoulder and neck.

* * *

Scarlett glared at the desk in front of her. She didn't like what the preliminary suggested plans for her department were, but she was grateful she was still head of department, and only a small fraction of her funding had been removed.

Tuesti and Veld entered, and not too long so did Hollander and Raleigh, who were acting as temporary heads of the science department, with Sephiroth, Hewley and Rhapsodos just behind. Deusericus and the new President entered last.

"I'm glad all of you could make it. As you know, I'd like to clean up some of my father's more questionable uses of resources, which I feel have been dragging this company down. I apologize right now, but we're going to have to reschedule our discussions of budgets for the time being, at least until the business and turk departments have finished with their audits. We've discovered a few areas of concern already, and until we've gotten a handle on things, we're going to stick with the current amounts." Rufus stood at the head of the table. "Also, as you're aware, we still lack a permanent head of the Science department, I have finally found a suitable candidate to clean up Professor Hojo's . . . findings." Scarlett scowled as Hollander straightened, clearly eager. "Professors, you are both quite knowledgeable, and I am grateful that you both stepped up, but do to the fact that until recently, you both worked under Professor Hojo, and Science has many of my father's more questionable uses of resources, I cannot place either of you as head, especially with the ongoing investigation." Scarlett smirked this time, as Hollander began to protest.

"Sir, you must be joking." Hollander started, only to be cut off by Raleigh.

"May I ask who you've picked?"

"The scientist in question has been doing her own investigation into Hojo's works for quite some time, and once worked for the company before taking a leave of absence . . ." Rufus walked to the door, and opened it, revealing a very beautiful woman walking with a crutch. "Allow me to present Dr. Lucrecia Crescent."

Scarlett didn't hear Hollander's startled exclamation, mainly because she made a startled exclamation of her own. "Dr. Crescent? The same Dr. Crescent that wrote the paper on making mako crystals for use in machines?"

"Well, yes, that was my thesis."

"You also wrote one of the best theories about how the lifestream affects the planet and its inhabitants." Raleigh looked just as surprised. "I wrote my own thesis with the help of that paper."

"Really? You must let me read that sometime." Dr. Crescent smiled as she took a seat near Reeve Tuesti.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but shouldn't you be older by now?" Hollander demanded. "I heard you were dead."

"Yes, well, Hojo tried to kill me, and I had an accident with a mako crystal- a side effect of both being that I seem to have stopped aging for a bit."

"Now, if we could leave your questions for a little later, I believe we have a meeting to get through." Rufus took charge in the silence that followed as the others tried to figure out that statement.

* * *

Rude sighed as he watched Kunsel shift in his sleep. Rufus had brought him back to ShinRa, even transforming a former Storeroom on the Turk floor into a hospital room so Kunsel could be guarded by the Turks. He couldn't believe he had forgotten that Kunsel had been Zack's friend the last time. Unfortunately, the man wasn't getting any better, still caught between two timelines in his own head and unable to pick one.

_Aerith might be able to help, though . . . or Dr. Crescent could help figure out how to stabilize him._

"Hey Partner, you gotta come check this out, yo!" Reno stuck his head in. "Tuesti's Secretary is beating up Gun in hand to hand!"

It wasn't quite right, but they had time to straighten things out . . . and maybe Elena would soon join them as a Turk, and he'd get to hear Reno teasing her again.

* * *

"You know, You're getting kind of predictable." Cloud joined Vincent on the top of the tower.

"I could say the same to you." Vincent retorted drily.

" . . . Nothing really went as planned."

"We did some things that we hadn't planned on, as well." Vincent sighed. "But we made it . . . the Calamity is off this planet, and soon will burn in the sun. She won't be able to manipulate the lifestream, and Sephiroth won't be able to manipulate her and the lifestream."

"She'll burn . . . along with Hojo." Cloud added with a smirk, which Vincent copied.

"Third time's the charm. I think I enjoyed it more this time." Vincent stared at where he was positive the sun actually was. The two lapsed into silence for a moment. "What are you and Tifa going to do?"

"Well, I'm thinking of asking her to marry me." Cloud noted Vincent's look. "If things hadn't gotten so messed up in the last time line, I would have asked her before . . ." Cloud winced a little, and Vincent nodded.

"I see."

"I think I might ask after Zack and Aerith are married . . . when are you going to ask Lucrecia?"

"We're still working everything out . . . especially since we have to consider Sephiroth's opinion." Vincent leaned back a little more. "On that subject, though, I feel I have to warn you- Cid called from Wutai."

" . . . This doesn't have anything to do with that fanatic Leviathan cult that almost killed me the last time, does it?"

"No. Yuffie wants to set up her father with your mother." Cloud managed to choke on air at that. "I didn't ask, and Cid started in on how he was apparently being harassed into asking Shera out on a date and courting her the proper, meaning wutaian, way. Apparently, the news that Zack and Aerith are engaged prompted Yuffie into trying to match people up."

" . . . She's bored, isn't she."

"She's already gotten all the materia she had last time, plus a few others." Vincent glanced back at the city below. "So I imagine so."

"Well, life's definitely not going to be boring . . ." Cloud sighed.

"It hasn't been boring since you got me out of that coffin the first time."

"What's wrong?" Cloud noticed Vincent had stiffened a little.

" . . . When you were fighting Jenova . . . you . . . changed a little."

"Yeah, Weiss was there to keep me from losing my mind to Jenova, he taped into Omega to give me an edge."

"Do you think you could tap into that power again?"

"No, Weiss was the link . . . why do you ask?"

"Chaos wants a chance to fight Omega again."

" . . . Shouldn't Chaos remember how it went the last time?"

" . . . the goddess might have erased his memories so that he wouldn't try to get out of returning to our prison." Vincent hadn't thought about it before. "Or perhaps he was the wrong part of the lifestream." The two lapsed into silence again, watching the changed world go by.

* * *

**Dear God . . . all the mini plotlines that ran through this story and especially in my drafts . . . You have no idea how close this was to being a story that I almost didn't finish because of all the mini plotlines I wanted to include. Not to mention all the easter eggs that I added just for the fun of it (Like Reeve's Inspire abilities- go read the Wiki for more info).**

**You'll notice the characters allude to some events that happened prior to them coming back in time- in my mind, they continued having adventures, together and separate, up until they had to come back. Some of these might become oneshots.**

**Speaking of One shots, there are several in conjunction with this story already posted, the titles are: Team Mom, Compromised, Wolves and Dogs, Opening Up, A Day in Nibelheim, A forgotten Treasure, and then there's PHS Messaging, which is technically a collection of one shots. **

**Strife family tree- yeah, this came about because I noticed that the mansion in Nibelheim was called the ShinRa mansion, not the ShinRa's company mansion, and that NIBELHEIM, not Midgar, had one of the oldest (if not the oldest) reactors. In my head, that translated into President Shinra actually being from Nibelheim, and that old mansion belonged to his family, though once he left for Midgar, he just used it for company purposes- and given that the president is easily in his sixties by the time of FFVII, it's not to far fetched that no one but the really old knew that bit of information- then Nibelheim got destroyed, so the only one who knew was the President, and then he got axed.**

**Like I said, this my head, it's a weird place, and this sounded better to me than Cloud as another illegitimate kid of that jerk.**

**Yuffie's match up of Godo and Mama Strife was actually a random plot idea inspired by someone asking if I was planning on any unusual pairings, despite me saying that this wasn't a pairing fic multiple times. It was the only unusual pairing I could think of that could have any basis in this universe I've written, basis being that Yuffie treats Mama Strife like a second mother and thinks it's totally reasonable to set her up with Godo. (You'll notice, the only other pairings mentioned are cannon and not the real focus- I couldn't even write Zack proposing cause it just felt off, if I can ever stomach it, I will write the proposal as a oneshot.)**

**Now, to clarify something- I didn't have them destroy Jenova because destroying Jenova on the planet would put Jenova into the lifestream, and Jenova's stubborn enough to use that to her advantage. I even made a point of having Chaos saying that getting rid of Jenova wouldn't be as easy as destroying her.**

**(Please remember, that killing Sephiroth didn't stop him from coming back by using jenova cells and tainted lifestream.) The weapons sealed her (and Hojo, because last time he managed to come back and summon Omega) into a nice jeweled prison and the Ultimate weapon then took them out into space (instead of Cid's rocket, which was my original plan that fell through) and is currently heading as fast as it can towards the sun.**

**The reason they were fighting Jenova was to make sure that the goddess/lifestream had enough time to build enough power to capture her.**

**The only reason Sephiroth didn't join Hojo and Jenova was because everyone, even Cloud, told the planet 'no way, he's staying with us'. **

**Everything else should be explained, but I had a couple reviews asking for clarification on this point, so it got an author's note as well.**

**There will be a short sequel up in about a month or two- I'm going to stick with posting oneshots for a while as school resumes, as well as post a couple things in other fandoms to test the water. The sequel won't be posted until I've gotten it all written out, which is why it might take a month or two.**

**Hope you've all enjoyed this fic (and my attempt at time travel). Thank you to all who've reviewed (especially those who've reviewed each chapter), favorited, and/or followed!**

**I'd write you all, but that'd be over 400 hundred names total.**


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